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Eurozone Inflation
Comments
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So it would appear that it may be worth taking some lessons from the German model?Interesting indeed. Here is an article from Forbes explaining why all is not what it might seem - http://www.forbes.com/sites/timworstall/2013/04/15/seriously-cyprus-is-not-richer-than-germany/
Brief synopsis; the figures are for household wealth, and Germany has the lowest average number of persons per household in the Euro area (2.04 compared to say 2.68 for Spain) i.e if the average Spaniard and the average German possessed exactly the same amount of wealth, Spanish households would be richer because there's more people per household. Whilst the definition of wealth used excludes the value of pensions, both state and occupational. Which is rather a big omission really.
P.S. Original source of numbers is this ECB report.
http://www.ecb.europa.eu/pub/pdf/other/ecbsp2en.pdf?0696a13c1992dcabc79eebed533574f20 -
Brief synopsis; the figures are for household wealth,and Germany has the lowest average number of persons per household in the Euro area (2.04 compared to say 2.68 for Spain)
Yes, I pointed that out quite clearly.
And also noted that.....
Even if you adjust for skew in average household sizes, German per capita net wealth is around 15% lower than Spanish net wealth per capita.“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.
Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
-- President John F. Kennedy”0 -
So it would appear that it may be worth taking some lessons from the German model?
Covered that too.....
While Germany is a richer country than most in Europe overall, this wealth has come at the expense of the masses.
Even when comparing to basket case economies like Spain, the GINI coefficient measuring wealth inequality has Germany at 0.76 and Spain at 0.58.
In other words, Germany is a significantly less equal society in regards to wealth distribution than Spain, and the benefits of German "wealth" are not trickling down to it's people.
Hardly something to aspire to......“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.
Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
-- President John F. Kennedy”0 -
Average living standards are higher though. Average Joe has more disposable income than here, plus better pension provision and much better job security.HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »Covered that too.....
While Germany is a richer country than most in Europe overall, this wealth has come at the expense of the masses.
Even when comparing to basket case economies like Spain, the GINI coefficient measuring wealth inequality has Germany at 0.76 and Spain at 0.58.
In other words, Germany is a significantly less equal society in regards to wealth distribution than Spain, and the benefits of German "wealth" are not trickling down to it's people.
Hardly something to aspire to......
Equality is a different argument.0 -
Average living standards are higher though.
What, than here?
Absolutely not from what I've seen.Average Joe has more disposable income than here, plus better pension provision and much better job security..
Do you have a source for that?
Germany is a significantly lower waged society than the UK, and cost of living is not cheaper enough to compensate.
Which, ultimately, is why German median net wealth is so very much lower than the UK.
Wealth, as opposed to income, can never be anything other than the result of greater income than outgoings.
Yes, economic performance has been good, but it's been at the expense of the average German citizen, far more so than has been the case in the UK.
Have a read of this article.....
- See more at: http://www.cityam.com/article/why-britain-should-not-view-germany-role-model-economic-success#sthash.FGrtW7BN.dpufThe problem is that this performance came with grave side-effects.
First, Germany now has one of the largest low wage sectors in Europe, with hourly gross wages as low as €4 (£3.50). For years, private consumption has essentially stagnated, and it has only started to recover over the past couple of years.
Second, German budget consolidation did not, on the whole, cut wasteful government spending, but rather productive capital spending. From 2003 onwards, German governments have neglected public spending in infrastructure, education, and research and development (R&D). Public investment has fallen short of depreciation. As a result, infrastructure has been deteriorating.
This is now being felt by German companies. Highway bridges are in such poor condition that lorries carrying heavy loads often have to make detours, while some transport infrastructure in waterways dates back to a century ago. It is starting to threaten competitiveness in global markets. As a consequence, productivity growth has been anaemic.
For Britain, there is little to be copied from German policies.
The "sick man of Europe" got lucky with a rigged currency for a decade, and got away with impoverishing it's citizenry through wage suppression, but that is not sustainable over the long term.
As I say, it's far from something Britain should aspire to.
The average Brit is much, much wealthier than the average German.“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.
Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
-- President John F. Kennedy”0 -
Sub-Saharan Africa is wealthier than Germany too on this basis.
I have known farmers who have been asset rich but with limited cash.
Is it better to to have strong free cash flow or have it locked in illiquid fixed assets where the trickle down effect cannot be predicted?"If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....
"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham0 -
grizzly1911 wrote: »Sub-Saharan Africa is wealthier than Germany too on this basis.
That's an extraordinary assertion.
Any data to back it up old boy?Is it better to to have strong free cash flow or have it locked in illiquid fixed assets where the trickle down effect cannot be predicted?
Germans have neither.
That's the problem.“The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.
Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought.”
-- President John F. Kennedy”0 -
HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »Yes, I pointed that out quite clearly.
And also noted that.....
Even if you adjust for skew in average household sizes, German per capita net wealth is around 15% lower than Spanish net wealth per capita.
Yes but it excludes pensions. They're too "difficult ... to evaluate" apaprently. The guy from Forbes reckons that the typical two person German household has pensions worth at least €400,000. Or €200,000 per capita if you prefer that measure,0 -
HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »The median German household net wealth is €51,400
The median Greek household net worth is €101,900.
The median Spanish net wealth is around €170,000.
The primary difference is that only 44% of Germans own their own home, whereas the Greek and Spanish rates are significantly higher.
Secondary causes are that German household size is smaller, on average, than that of Greece and Spain. And that concentration of wealth in Germany is higher amongst a smaller group.
While Germany is a richer country than most in Europe overall, this wealth has come at the expense of the masses.
Even when comparing to basket case economies like Spain, the GINI coefficient measuring wealth inequality has Germany at 0.76 and Spain at 0.58.
In other words, Germany is a significantly less equal society in regards to wealth distribution than Spain, and the benefits of German "wealth" are not trickling down to it's people.
Therefore the average (median) German citizen is markedly poorer than the average citizens of many other European countries.
Even if you adjust for skew in average household sizes, German per capita net wealth is around 15% lower than Spanish net wealth per capita.
The average German citizen is amongst the poorest in western Europe. Despite Germany being amongst the richest countries in Western Europe.
German economic policy is hardly something to aspire to.
That falls a very long way short of being worthy of any kind of reasoned response.FACT.0 -
HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »That's an extraordinary assertion.
Any data to back it up old boy?
Germans have neither.
That's the problem.
Gini Coefficient.
Source might be a bit dodgy.
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2172rank.html"If you act like an illiterate man, your learning will never stop... Being uneducated, you have no fear of the future.".....
"big business is parasitic, like a mosquito, whereas I prefer the lighter touch, like that of a butterfly. "A butterfly can suck honey from the flower without damaging it," "Arunachalam Muruganantham0
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