West Germany's recovery from a war-shattered country to become the world's 3rd strongest economy was remarkable. US aid and the Marshall Plan played its part, but equally important was the concept of Sozialmarktwirtschaft, or social market economy. Government has effectively provided many welfare and workers' rights, while leaving most of the economy within in the realm of the private sector.
Germany has developed little of the coordinated state and regional planning found in France. All the major banks and businesses are in private hands. One exception is Volkswagen, which remains partly owned by the government.
The central bank, which sets interest rates and is responsible for controlling inflation, also has a large measure of independence from the government. The greatest challenge for Germany remains rebuilding the east. The state privatization agency, the Treuhand has presently sold off more than 8,000 of the formerly East German state-owned economic concerns. |
|
Germany has relatively few natural resources. It imports over 50% of its basic energy needs. Coal, the basis of its industrialization, has diminshed in energy importance, accounting for less than twenty percent of energy today, compared with fifty percent thirty years ago.
Unlike France, the former West Germany did not invest heavily in nuclear power. The accident at Chernobyl in the Ukraine strengthened the anti-nuclear lobby's case. In the east, all the Soviet-built stations have been shut down. Germany's energy conservation program is generally considered to be one of the most successful programs in Europe.
Germans are among the world's most environmentally conscious people. Led by the Green Party, which emerged as a powerful force in the 1980's, environmental campaigns have had considerable influence on the policies of all the major political parties. While the Greens have won only a few seats in the Bundestag, they are well represented in Land Parliaments. |
|
Germany has some of the strictest pollution controls in the world, adding extra costs to businesses and forcing them to become even more efficient. Germans recycle 42% of their waste paper, reprocess 70% of their used tires and sort 50% of their glass.
Germany virtually invented the modern highway with its 1930's Autobahnen, built by the Nazis primarily for military purposes. Today, the country has Europe's most elaborate highway network.
Most Autobahnen do not have a speed limit, a contrast to the very strict speed limit restrictions and slow Trabant cars of former East Germany. German railroads are mostly state-owned and efficient. |
