Modernize, but don't Americanize

America's economy is good, Germany's is bad-that's how the received wisdom goes, but this view is not tenable
By Will Hutton
THE OBSERVER
Monday, Dec 01, 2003,Page 9

Britain signed a landmark enterprise agreement last month with the US to celebrate its aspiration to follow the American way. Yet this alleged enterprise capital of the world has a trade deficit equal to 5 percent of its GNP, has racked up international debts now close to US$3 trillion and last April lost its place as number one world exporter to Germany.

This latter economy, running trade surpluses as proportionately big as the US's trade deficits, is written off as an economic basket case whose approach the UK wants to avoid like the plague. But perhaps, just perhaps, the story is a little more complicated than America works and Germany doesn't.

To see any merit in the German economic and social model in Britain these days is to invite howls of derision, especially from UK Treasury officials. And it's true that German economic performance has not been much to write home about recently; one in 12 Germans is unemployed while economic stagnation, inflating social expenditure and an eroded tax base have meant that the German budget deficit has exceeded the eurozone rules for three successive years, rules the Germans lobbied hard for. A Brit would have to be a saint not to enjoy just a little schadenfreude at Germany's plight.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/edit/archives/2003/12/01/2003077964

One of the best I've read about the matter so far.

Thanks for posting.