to compete in the world economy.

Obviously, German workers have far more benefits and protections compared to US workers, and they do just fine in the world economy.

There are a number of factors at play, I think. In the US, most large companies are publicly traded, and all they care about is making this quarter's numbers. I've worked with a number of German firms, even many large ones are family-owned, and the emphasis is much more on long-term strategy than short term numbers. So German companies produce outstanding products that are engineered without cutting corners.

Other factors, too.

You'll like it here.

Keep everything the same, all our low taxes, all our union-busting hurdles, etc. Just change that one law, and require that labor have a voice, even a relatively small one, on corporate boards.

As it is, when an American company is doing OK, holders of equity have all the say and labor and holders of debt have no say.

Once the company fails, holders of debt have all the say and holders of equity and labor have no say.

In Germany, holders of equity, holders of debt, and labor all have a voice on the board at all times in the company. I think that's a much better way to do things and I think it shows.

lots of big complIcated things.

I've read the Euro is undervalued for the German economy. Which is stronger than many of the other members of the zone. Which in turn gives Germany an advantage were trade is concerned. Germany also has strict regulations on how much can be spent on imports. It's actually a source of contention in the eurozone since it's seen as hampering growth/recovery for other members there.

I could have this totally wrong, I'm not an economist by any stretch of the imagination.

I'll see if I can find anything about that.

I do think the currency issue has a lot to do with it; it's also a lot of why Greece and Portugal are having such problems right now (and Puerto Rico on our end of the pond). And if that's it, it's gotten a lot worse in the past few weeks with the multiple Yuan devaluations, sadly.

I read something about it when the semi-annual currency report came out in April. I've slept quite a bit since then, and sometimes forget important details.

If Germany had the Deutschemark it would be a different story--Chinese goods would be cheaper in Germany, and German goods would be more expensive in China.

But, since Germany has the same currency as Spain and Greece, it reaps the benefit of a weaker currency than it would have otherwise.