I'm not a Merkel fan but I have to say that she and her crew managed to guide the country through the recession pretty well. The german version of the Cash for Clunkers programm helped one of Germany's key industries through the crisis, which had reduced exports, with increased domesic consumption. Things like Kurzarbeit (don't know how to translate that right now) helped the people keep thier jobs. Than the Euro weakend and the exports went up again.
The country also happend to have become more competitive before the crisis by keeping the wages low. I disapproved of this, but I guess it came in handy now.
Bon was certainly right. Saving the banks and stimulus were the key to economic recovery.
edited 4th Jan '11 4:50:55 PM by DasAuto
Now if you excuse me, Starfleet is about to award the Christopher Pike Medal to my dick. — SF DebrisThey have a strong export based economy, so as soon as anyone else in the world recovers, they get their customers back.
Unlike a country where most of the products are consumed locally. Then you get a vicious cycle where unemployed people can't afford to buy anything, thus leading to less business and job losses.
edited 4th Jan '11 4:56:02 PM by storyyeller
Blind Final Fantasy 6 Let's PlayScrew power. Only the elite here benefits from it anyway. I want my tax money back.
I wish I could move to Germany. Unfortunately, I don't have any money and have no language skills.
Fight smart, not fair.It's not that good. At all. Insane debt. Social and demographic meltdowns ahead.
Go to Canada instead. I hear there is not cats in Canada.
Now if you excuse me, Starfleet is about to award the Christopher Pike Medal to my dick. — SF DebrisThat's not really a compliment any more. You're Chinas bitch.

So, I don't know much about economics, and I'm rubbish at finding relevant info on google, I thought I'd ask you lot about this.
You see, German recovery from the recession has been in the news over here recently, and apparently they've come out the late 2000's recession lot faster, and a lot better off than many other countries, including the US. But what exactly is this caused by? Only information I got was on Wikipedia saying that they had the biggest stimulus plan in the Eurozone.