How Germany got it right on the economy

[Thailandnotes]

Harold Meyerson in the Post

"It's quite a turnabout for an economy that American and British bankers and economists derided for years as the sick man of Europe. German banks, they insisted, were too cautious and locally focused, while the German economy needed to slim down its manufacturing sector and beef up finance.

"Wisely, the Germans declined the advice. Manufacturing still accounts for nearly a quarter of the German economy; it is just 11 percent of the British and U.S. economies (one reason the United States and Britain are struggling to boost their exports). Nor have German firms been slashing wages and off-shoring - the American way of keeping competitive - to maintain profits."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...av=hcmoduletmv

[Slimprofits]

Re: How Germany got it right on the economy

Thursday, 18 November 2010

Who bankrupted Ireland?

[touchring]

Re: How Germany got it right on the economy

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-...09-705384.html

Mercedes-Benz: China October Sales 14,000 Units; Up 119% On Year

BEIJING (Dow Jones)--German vehicle maker Daimler AG's (DAI.XE) Mercedes-Benz Cars unit said Tuesday it sold 14,000 vehicles in China in October, up 119% from a year earlier, due to the continued popularity of its E-Class vehicles and strong sales of its S-Class vehicles.
Sales for the January-October period totaled 115,330 units, up 128% from a year earlier, Mercedes-Benz said, without giving year-earlier figures.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11681650

BMW's profits boosted by strong Chinese sales

BMW's third quarter profits have risen 11-fold as it continues to benefit from a big increase in sales in China.
The German carmaker made a net profit of 874m euros ($1.2bn; £765m) in the three months to the end of September, up from just 78m euros a year earlier.
Its revenues rose 36% to 15.9bn euros, as global quarterly sales of its BMW, Rolls-Royce and Mini cars increased by 13% to 366,190 vehicles.
BMW said its Chinese sales almost doubled compared with a year earlier.
Its sales across mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan were 91% higher.
Sales in Western Europe added 1.8%, while those in the UK gained 13%.
In the US BMW saw quarterly sales advance by 9%.
BMW did not release a specific figure for India, only saying that the wider Indian car market had grown by 30% so far this year.
It added that its global profits had also been helped by higher retail prices.

http://www.4wheelsnews.com/volkswage...-half-of-2010/

Volkswagen’s China sales rise 46% in the first-half of 2010

By Andrew C., 30 Aug, 2010. 0 Comments
2011 Vw PhaetonIn the first half of 2010, Volkswagen AG was able to boost sales in China by 46% after launching new models. VW is the biggest foreign carmaker in China, which is the world's largest vehicle market. In an e-mailed statement, VW said that its sales to consumers increased to 950,278 vehicles in the greater China area. Meanwhile, deliveries of Audi luxury-brand sedans climbed by 64% to 109,887 units. Winfried Vahland, president and chief executive officer of Volkswagen China, said that the carmaker has “practically sold out” many models. Last April, Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn said that VW intends to invest 4.4 billion euros ($5.5 billion) to increase production capacity and launch new models in China. In this previous statement, Winterkorn also said that last year, VW sold 1.4 million vehicles in China and it aims to increase annual sales to over 2 million in the “medium-term.” For this year, VW was able to introduce new models, including the Tiguan sport-utility vehicle, the Audi Q5 and an upgraded Jetta. In the e-mailed statement, VW further revealed that it will begin sales of the CC four-door sports coupe on July 15 in Shanghai. General Motors Co., VW's largest overseas competitor in China, saw deliveries increase 49% to 1.21 million vehicles in the first half of the year.

[oddlots]

Re: How Germany got it right on the economy

THEY ARE SOCIALISTS, NO COMMUNISTS!!!! FIE! FIE!

Can we speed up continental drift please. I want off.

[Shakespear]

Re: How Germany got it right on the economy

Success ? Sure, but its partly due to cheap labor from the East and broad access to markets with EU expansion. Then some creative barriers to the unwanted and they are booming !! They are Sharp but something tells me it will not last. You can milk the poor for only so long.

[thunderdownunder]

Re: How Germany got it right on the economy

Just what we need - More cars in the World's most populous country's.
I have the feeling that China inherited the worst of Western Capitalism - Bling for the sake of social ladder climbing.
We on the road to nowhere.

[GRG55]

Re: How Germany got it right on the economy

The crowing about Germany today reminds me of the crowing about the "Celtic Tiger" and its peers not that long ago...

[Master Shake]

Re: How Germany got it right on the economy

The crowing about Germany today reminds me of the crowing about the "Celtic Tiger" and its peers not that long ago...

But the Celtic Tiger was a FIRE economy creature, no? Sounds like the Germans are doing it the old-fashioned way, via manufacturing.

[c1ue]

Re: How Germany got it right on the economy

The crowing about Germany today reminds me of the crowing about the "Celtic Tiger" and its peers not that long ago...

I think that is going too far.

Absolutely some part of Germany's relative prosperity is due to the EU - both the overall EU as a currency exchange rate protected market area for German goods as well as the PIGS borrowed (via lower EU interest rate) money.

But equally some part of Germany's present state is due to its having limited the FIRE influence in its economy; through its capturing and retaining the high end in a number of manufacturing sectors including machine tools and automobiles, and through a number of other factors which culminated in Germany being the most competitive economy (labor wise) in Europe.

So while I do agree this is probably a high water mark for Germany for a while - because both incremental market losses in the PIGS and/or capital losses from PIGS debt restructuring will impact them, nonetheless Germany is still benefiting from exports to non-EU nations including China.

To be sure, Germany has a trade deficit with China, but then again it is all relative.

More info on German trade with China:

http://www.destatis.de/jetspeed/port...nderPrint.psml

[flintlock]

Re: How Germany got it right on the economy

I guess some people still value quality . US manufacturing tried to take the middle ground with poor results. Hard to play in the low bid wins global game.

[GRG55]

Re: How Germany got it right on the economy

But the Celtic Tiger was a FIRE economy creature, no? Sounds like the Germans are doing it the old-fashioned way, via manufacturing.

I think that is going too far.

Absolutely some part of Germany's relative prosperity is due to the EU - both the overall EU as a currency exchange rate protected market area for German goods as well as the PIGS borrowed (via lower EU interest rate) money.

But equally some part of Germany's present state is due to its having limited the FIRE influence in its economy; through its capturing and retaining the high end in a number of manufacturing sectors including machine tools and automobiles, and through a number of other factors which culminated in Germany being the most competitive economy (labor wise) in Europe.

So while I do agree this is probably a high water mark for Germany for a while - because both incremental market losses in the PIGS and/or capital losses from PIGS debt restructuring will impact them, nonetheless Germany is still benefiting from exports to non-EU nations including China.

To be sure, Germany has a trade deficit with China, but then again it is all relative.

More info on German trade with China:

http://www.destatis.de/jetspeed/port...nderPrint.psml

My morning amusement...

Limited the FIRE economy? Really??

And just which European country state owned banks were among the largest consumers of toxic toilet paper being churned out by Wall Street?

This show in Europe is far from over - the crowing about Germany is premature...far, far too premature. The Germans are just as adept at "kicking the can down the road" as everyone else. They might be the last economy standing as Europe melts down, but that's not going to be much help...

Lest we forget...

Germany's Landesbank Losers
08.21.07, 2:45 PM ET

LONDON -As the European Central Bank continues to try to resuscitate the European banking system with daily injections of cash, the fate of German banks is worrying. On Tuesday the chief executive of WestLB warned that a reluctance of foreign banks to provide credit to their German peers could lead to a banking crisis in Germany...

...German banks are susceptible to the current liquidity problems because of their eager participation in the commercial paper market, or the issuance of short-term debt. Unfortunately, this is precisely the sort of debt that investors, from hedge funds to other banks, are eschewing -- these are loans that have been used to buy securities backed by American subprime mortgages.

In Germany, these commercial paper loans are held in special investment funds known as "conduits," affiliates that are not included on bank balance sheets and thus all the more foreboding. It was the conduit of Sachsen, known as Ormond Quay, had to be bailed out when commercial paper investors stopped buying its securities and Sachsen couldn't provide funding.

...Even more vulnerable to the liquidity crisis sweeping the globe are Germany's Landesbanks, owned by the German states, which pioneered the use of conduits in 1998...

And if anyone thinks this came about only after the housing bubble was in full blossom, they would be wrong. The warning signs were there long before the US housing market peaked...and unlike Billy Joel's ode to the Boomer generation, the Germans can't claim "No we didn't light it; But we tried to fight it"...



From November 2003:

A CARTOON doing the rounds in London dealing rooms shows two dinosaurs, bearing the names of German Landesbanks, watching a meteorite hit the earth. "No problem," says one. "Standard & Poor's has given us a year to evolve."

Standard & Poor's (S&P), a rating agency, this week gave the 11 Landesbanks--public-sector entities that are local development banks, house banks for state governments and clearers for local savings banks--a short reprieve. Under political pressure, S&P has postponed until July its plans to publish ratings that reflect the Landesbanks' creditworthiness without state guarantees...

[D-Mack]

Re: How Germany got it right on the economy

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11681650
BMW's profits boosted by strong Chinese sales

What I don't get is why the long version of the new 5 series is only available in China, it's not like Chineese people are the tallest in the world.

BMW has created a long-wheelbase 5 Series exclusively built in and provided for that market. The model is produced in BMW's Shenyang plant, where it's given an extra 5.5 inches for the rear passengers who travel in "luxurious grand touring comfort" due to the rear axle tailored to each model. These CDM specials even get a bespoke rear seat.
Three engines are to be offered in outputs starting at 204 horsepower and going up to 306 hp. You can check out all the info in the presser and videos after the jump, and get good looks at 7 Series-sized 5 Series in our high-res gallery below.
The 528 Li


http://blog.leasetrader.com/archive/...for-China.aspx

We invented cash for clunkers.... this page claims it failed, I don't if it's true.

2008: Germany tries to jump-start its struggling economy by paying people to trade in old cars and buy new ones. Germany failed.

http://www.rrstar.com/gnt/whatyoures...peats-mistakes

It will get interesting when workers can come from East Europe to work here.

German firms scan Poland for workers
17th November 2010




German companies are already starting to recruit Polish workers in expectation of the opening of the German and Austrian labor markets to Poles on May 1, 2011.

http://www.wbj.pl/article-52114-germ...r-workers.html

[GRG55]

Re: How Germany got it right on the economy

What I don't get is why the long version of the new 5 series is only available in China, it's not like Chineese people are the tallest in the world.



...

I suspect that it has more to do with the fact that labour is cheap, traffic and parking are congested, and therefore a lot of people have drivers. That means there's much a bigger market for cars with lots of room and luxury appointed comfort in the back, in comparison with North America or Europe where most people drive themselves and the back seat space is for the kids or the in-laws.

[D-Mack]

Re: How Germany got it right on the economy

I have been inside of that car and when Kylie can make a music video on the back seat ... ah well


TAIO CRUZ FEAT. KYLIE MINOGUE : HIGHER (2010)
Hochgeladen von artemis181. - Musikvideos, Sänger Interviews, Konzerte und mehr.


So Russia wants to partner up with Germany, China wants to buy Greece bonds.




China assured Greece will buy bonds in due time- Greek official


Meanwhile the US is buying it's own bonds, staging an excersise in the yellow see and we have this mysterious wikileak.

[GRG55]

Re: How Germany got it right on the economy

I have been inside of that car and when Kylie can make a music video on the back seat ... ah well

...

Hmmm. I wonder if she needs a driver...