Germany's unemployment rate at record low in December. Germany Strong exports of German cars are helping drive employment figures. German unemployment fell to its lowest rate in December since 1991, according to the German Federal Labour Agency.
Must be that high unionization rate of German industry powering the economy.
Germany has about 60 percent unionization. And German workers have fully 50 percent representation on corporate boards.
Does lead to great stuff like big trade surpluses vs. massive US trade deficits, a huge tax on US economy.
German Trade Surplus Widens
Or maybe that Germany has "socialized" health care that costs 50% less per person than in the US, covers 100% of the people and gets better results.
German health benefits are very generous. And there's usually little or no wait to get elective surgery or diagnostic tests, such as MRIs. It's one of the world's best health care systems, visible in little ways that most Germans take for granted.
Or maybe the fact that Germany uses 50% less energy (less imported oil, less greenhouse gases) than US.
World Energy Use Stats
GOP hate the French because France exposed Bush II's phony war in Iraq. GOP should really hate the Germans for disproving every single point of GOP Reaganomics ideology from unions to health care to jobs to oil to climate change. Toss in the secular public education system and money free democracy and Germans are the true anti-Reagan/GOP heretics in the world.
Now if we could just find a US leader who wanted to use the German model in US. US voters would go for it.
With a tip of the hat to the other DKOS Germany Just Works diarists.
The mainstream German magazine Spiegel asks has the United States of America become an Oligarchy?
U.S. Exmas 2011, America in Decline: Why Germans still, Think We're Insane+