Why is German economy so strong right now?

Hmm it's just wierd.. three months ago I put my cv around the websites and stores in my city.. no response..
I put them up again just last week.. 2 phone interviews one of which i passed for face to face interview for next friday, I think everyone's confidence is growing in their respective economies and Germany is showing it quickest.

 

Probably because Germany makes things still. Unlike most countries.

 

I think they're planing to invade poland again

 

And still the Germans Eco is miserable against the Swiss one

 

They seem pretty autonomous to the rest of Western economy.

Maybe I'm talking out of line, saying that, correct me if I'm wrong.

 

I have not much knowledge about economy but from what little i know and read:

- strong export sales
- companies don't sit on their money and hire new employees
(One of our main problems here in Germany is uneployment.)
- per capita consumption rises and is now very strong
(Another problem here was that people kept their money on their bank accounts instead of spending it. With the recent bank crash that changed a bit.)

 

Over half a year of looking for a job here, still ongoing. I'm in software development - one of the areas that are claimed to do especially well right now. Only two (face to face) interviews so far, and most employers don't even bother to send out emails of refusal.

My guess is our economy's not really as strong as everyone's saying, our politicians just happen to have lots of experience in the propaganda department...

 

No thread about Germany without a Nazi allusion

My economics studies are still ahead of me so I have no idea why Germany seems to have recovered so quickly. I don't notice too much of it, it was quite difficult for me to find a part-time job to earn some money - everyone I asked was just complaining about how miserable the current situation was and that they'd rather fire than hire an employee. But maybe that's just because of the branch.

 

I was never unemployed and i always got good jobs. Don't know where the problem is - maybe the branch or maybe the area you're looking for jobs.

@RSO: Have you experience in game development? I know Related Designs and Ubisoft are looking for specialists.

 

Re: Nazis - Well, we aren't being allowed to forget about them anyways, so might as well use it.

As Ground Zero already pointed at... Weak € = growth of exports, and we're doing lots of exporting - I guess that would explain most of it. Once the euro zone in general recovers somewhat, exports will go back down, so it's not really a long-term thing.

The reports about companies hiring people by the busload again are exaggerated - not entirely untrue but far from what they're made to sound like. You just need to know how to read them, and maybe do a little additional research (which I unfortunately have the time for...).

"per capita consumption rises" - now this one's probably true. Once you get the first batch of people to think everything's gotten better, they start spending and it actually gets better. Somewhat of a hen-and-egg problem. IIRC Scott Adams wrote a blog post about just that about a year ago, lemme see if I can dig that up.
Edit: Hey, that was quick! Here it is: http://www.dilbert.com/blog/entry/ignorance_will_save_us/

@GZ
No serious game dev experience, mostly generic Windows/UNIX programing and embedded/mobile stuff. You don't happen to need any of those?
My main problem, I guess, is having roughly university-level skills but not the degree, meaning I don't get the "proper" coding jobs due to not having the necessary sheet of inked tree pulp, which leaves little besides web dev which I can't seem to get into due to not having a portfolio (working on that though). Sucks.

 

isn't a good economy just as much about the mindset of the country as the actual strength of the economy?

 

And heaps of surplus and strong & regulated banking plus being so far away from pretty much anyone - I think this is one reason why Australia escaped the global meltdown somethin pretty much unnoticed... -__-;

 

I'm thinking along the lines of if all we hear is doom and gloom and how poor the economy is, people won't spend money, they'll save it instead.

Would it make any difference if the media started portraying the economy as 'on the rise' and recovering? Would people be more comfortable spending, which in turn stimulates the economy?

Sorry, just thinkin' back on old classes I took a few years ago.

 

I think Germany's continuing economic strength comes, mainly, from the following:

1. a strong quality-driven manufacturing industry: on the one hand, more large auto & chemical conglomerates than anywhere else in Europe, and on the other hand, a very extensive base of mid-sized (Mittelstand) companies making precision machinery and components - Germany historically has had a leading position in printing presses, for instances. These companies employ a significant part of the workforce, leading us to...

2. sound labour policy - German employers have been loathe to lay people off, preferring to shorten shifts instead (if I recall correctly this is called Kurzarbeit, explained here). Needless to say, maintaining employment levels is a significant driver for consumption stability and consumer confidence.

3. positive trade balance - Germany not only has a strong home market, but also exports a lot (see #1). Its current account balance - is the largest in Europe in absolute numbers. slightly bigger than Japan's, even. Outdated list here) This is a strong contributor to GDP growth - but also a threat, in case of global slump (case in point: Japan)

4. a good fiscal position - compared to most European countries (especially the famed PIIGS quintet) Germany's government finances are in good shape. Projected budget deficit for 2010 is, at 5%, below Europe's average 7%. Even though its debt position is not as good as its other indicators, interest paid on German government bonds (currently 2.74%) is the lowest in Europe. By comparison, the Greek state has to pay 10.25% and 4.19% for Spain; this goes to show that (institutional) investors, who buy these bonds, place good trust in Germany's economic outlook. In fact, default risk of other EU countries is measured relative to Germany - because it's the least risky government to invest in.

If you're interested in this sort of thing, I highly recommend reading The Economist. It regulary runs articles on Germany's economic outlook.

 

It all goes down to the numbers really.

Germany was just, just displaced as the world's biggest exporter by China. Mind that considering the size of one and the other, proportionally speaking Germany is still #1.

Now, industry? it doesnt really matters anymore: now that the chinese and the rest of southeast asia works for peanuts, making physical stuff isnt that big of a business. Research, developement, design and marketing, thats were the money is, and while china is now porsche's main client, MB is already making cars there, so while a senior specialized chinese autoworker earns about $500 a month, a junior german autoworker makes as much as 2500 euros, for maybe less hours of work.

The other part is spending: I've a german friend in college and man is he careful with money. Some people used to call him cheap, and now they're all heavily on-debt, some of them with parents moving from macmansions into small apts. And you know the irony? now that the worst is (apparently) over, while the german guy is looking for long-term investments for his retirement (he's barely 30!) the other broke losers are already getting into more debt to buy new cars or other junk they don't actually need. Picture that on the other side of the atlantic and you have the EU.

 

From my french point of view:
German people are not fucking lazy people that want to work less and earn more. And when the economy is in trouble, they don't say fuck to anything the government would try to do to make it get better. And the government usually does what it takes to make the economy get better (even if they screwed with the greek crisis, but still understandable)
Exact opposite to France.

 

It's not too hard to post good growth after you come out of a recession. You have a lot of pent up demand that finally has to be realized. Plus the Germans basically kick ass.

This kind of news is always good to hear, especially with the bad news everywhere else. Anything to raise confidence is good.