bonzobanana said: The german situation doesn't seem much different to a lot of Europe. http://www.nationaldebtclocks.org/debtclock/germany A large amount of debt per head, also pension debt not listed for public sector worker pensions and they are tied to a currency where many countries have crippling debt like Italy at 140% gdp. At the moment Germany has a feel good factor as being linked to such economies makes German exports more competitive because those countries devalue the currency but the Euro is also a huge liability. It's all getting really messy in Europe with huge problems pushed into the future rather than faced by more borrowing, same in the USA. It's like the future is a place where we think we will be rich again and these debts can be easily paid and so we can borrow massively today. I don't think I've got anything in my house that is German made or French. My tumble dryer is Italian I think. My car is korean. Much of my white goods are Turkish as is my TV. All my PCs and consoles are Chinese and what stuff I have that has European brands is often made elsewhere if not Chinese possibly eastern european countries. I have a range of bikes and most are taiwanese or chinese or a mixture of both. I'm sure I probably do have something German or French made just nothing major springs to mind. I mean you look at this; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Yn5kIpIrv0&t The factory looks amazing, they mention only a few of the brands they manufacture for, brands from across Europe and the US. Quality looks brilliant too. The economies of scale are incredible. How can Europe or the US compete with that especially with the chinese currency kept artificially low in value to aid exports. |
Your debtclock is nonesense, Germany has paid off further debt (made a budget surplus) in the last 3 years (one of the few countries to do so.) You also have to take inflation in account; a debt that stays the same is becoming easier and easier to pay, over the years, because that money represents less and less of what you earn. This number is going down quite dramatically, from both a growing GDP and the fairly unique situation of Germany actually paying back their debts, slowly: http://www.tradingeconomics.com/germany/government-debt-to-gdp (It's now at around 69%)
The German government's fiscal situation is considered so ridiculously safe that it now the interest rate is negative if you loan money for 5 years: https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/rates-bonds/government-bonds/germany
Germany would actually be making money on any new debt they take.
The US, in comparision: https://www.bloomberg.com/markets/rates-bonds/government-bonds/us
Also, irregardles of what you believe or what is the case for you personaly, Germany exports an absolutely ridiculous ammount, in comparision to GDP, more than half of what China exports, despite having a total economy a sixth of the size. The European Union exports more than anyone else (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_exports).
Here's a list of countries by exports per capita. You will notice that Europe is doing quite decently there, too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_exports_per_capita
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