

The German Question - jfrm
http://rulesofthumbbook.blogspot.com/2011/06/german-question.html

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zwieback
Very good summary of German economic thinking - the goal of combining a free
market with a fair amount of redistribution has broad support. The German
constitution defines Germany as a "Sozialstaat", which is not quite the same
as what we call "welfare state" in the US but seeks to create social justice.

What's not mentioned is the remarkable fact that Germany was able to absorb
the collapse of economically completely dysfunctional East Germany. If
anything, the influx of a generation of Germans raised under "socialism" has
strengthened the base of voters valuing economic stability. Despite western
grumblings and the still existing Wessi/Ossi divide the reunification and
subsequent wealth transfer from West to East was largely viewed as something
that just had to be done.

It's hard to measure the performance of Germany over other large economies in
isolation of the current state of the European Union, though. I think the
opinion about Germany is quite different in other European nations, especially
Greece. There you would find a large number of people claiming the performance
of Germany's economy is at the expense of the smaller countries of the union.

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eiji
I like that thought:

    
    
       influx of a generation of Germans raised under "socialism" has strengthened the base of voters valuing economic stability
    

An interesting point. What is also important, Germany is not an Two-party
system, and elections happen basically all the time. For a long time I thought
this was bad, but start to believe it's a strength. The strong left wing,
always short just a few votes, keeps the other forces in check.

