

Germany’s economy - Modell Deutschland über alles - sasvari
http://www.economist.com/node/21552579

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BonoboBoner
This headline is an insult to me as a German.

It is a forbidden part of our national anthem, which translates to "Germany
above everything else". It is illegal to sing this part as it is connected to
the crimes committed in WW2.

"Its native population is shrinking and ageing fast, and the country does not
welcome immigrants."

First they use nazi version of our national anthem in the headline, then they
declare us as racists... great journalism.

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werg
This is incorrect. The anthem is not Nazi, it is from a poem by Hoffman von
Fallersleben, one of the early German democrats. Far from being illegal, the
first two stanzas are simply not sung during official occasions and are not
(no longer, up to 1991 they were) part of the national anthem. I'm German too
and I find this kind of thin-skinnedness a bit embarassing and is not
substantiated by the article. Otherwise the article is kind of boring, though
it points out some key areas: middle-class not only in terms of individuals,
but also in terms of companies, integrating organized labor, the vocational
training system. Of these I find the last most interesting, most overlooked,
most anachronistic, and factually I'm not quite sure if it actually works all
that well (i.e. I believe other countries could improve a lot on the system).

When talking about Germany as a great economic system one must not forget that
Germany is nothing more than the economic center of the EU. As a whole, the EU
is in economic trouble, and Germany is a part of that trouble.

Also, current prosperity, like the current boom in technology, is largely due
to the fact that there aren't that many other places to invest.

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peterwiese
this article is embarrassing in every way shape and form.

