German powerhouse struggling

Thrugelmir

buglawton wrote: »

Somehow I'd still rather be Germany

What surprised me on a recent visit was the poor state of the infrastructure though. Compared to Spain where millions of Euros have been spent on a pointless and on many occasions unfinished road network. Hamburg port traffic was a nightmare. The road system obviously hasn't been upgraded in decades. Yet the Elbe is being deepened to cope with larger container vessels. I guess to remain competitive with both Antwerp and the new City of London port. So while things look ok. Longer term there are matters that need addressing.

buglawton

Hmm yes. Germany has a high speed rail network a bit like the Japanese one.

These 3 are ongoing:
Erfurt–Leipzig/Halle 300 km/h, under construction
Nuremberg–Erfurt 300 km/h, under construction
Karlsruhe–Basel 250 km/h, incomplete

The UK has... Eurotunnel and HS2 in planning.
A bit of a way to go yet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-speed_rail_in_Germany

Thrugelmir

buglawton wrote: »

Hmm yes. Germany has a high speed rail network a bit like the Japanese one.

High speed rail doesn't distribute 40 foot shipping containers though. Hamburg is primarily industrial rather than commerce or service based.

N1AK

Generali wrote: »

Really? How do you deal with a surplus when your clients can't or won't buy any more?

When people stop buying your products you very quickly have dealt with the surplus if you're lucky enough to start with one.


You can deal with a surplus, that isn't solving itself, if you so wish, in many ways: increasing state spending on imports, increasing minimum wages and employee rights, decreasing import restrictions, increasing the value of your currency (print less if you are), bring in more restrictive environmental regulations etc.

The America example is apt, however I see no reason to imagine that America would have been better off if it had a trade deficit, instead of surplus, when its major partners stopped buying as many of its goods.

N1AK

Thrugelmir wrote: »

What surprised me on a recent visit was the poor state of the infrastructure though.

I just spent a week in Stuttgart, Augsburg and Munich. There was a huge amount of major redevelopment of their road, tram and rail networks going on.

buglawton

There's a huge amount of road development here in Berkshire. Er, I meant road patching.

Generali

buglawton wrote: »

There was a piece on Radio 4 where the German trade figures were analysed. Apparently the sharp 6% ish August drop was accounted for by an unusual holiday cycle in Germany plus sanctions on Russia. If 2 months figures are added and averaged, the figures don't come out too bad.

As a result of this drop "Its trade surplus shrank to €17.5bn (£13.8bn)"

By comparison, UK's trade deficit in goods and services stood at £1.9bn in August.

Somehow I'd still rather be Germany

Neither situation is good.

My point, perhaps inelligantly made, is that the fetishisation of the German economy is silly if at the same time we're going to demonise the British economy. Germany can't have a surplus without others having deficits.

Bantex_2

I would have thought that as a starting point (now), a large surplus would be better than a large deficit?

Surely addressing a surplus is a pretty simple matter of just spending more.

danothy

Bantex wrote: »

I would have thought that as a starting point (now), a large surplus would be better than a large deficit?

Surely addressing a surplus is a pretty simple matter of just spending more.

Are you confusing a production surplus with a budget surplus? It sounds like you might be.

Bantex_2

danothy wrote: »

Are you confusing a production surplus with a budget surplus? It sounds like you might be.

Do not Germany have both?