[tormeh]

>Germany has probably the most successful economy in the world

Nope. Not even in the EU. Not even close. Where does this myth come from? Is it that it has passed the UK per capita?

I mean, there are loads of nice things about Germany, and economic strength is one, but that's a wild exaggeration.

[orf]

Well, it's the biggest capital exporter in the world (huge surplus) and is the third largest exporter in total. It's also got the highest GDP in the EU by a fair margin.

Per-capita in the EU is skewed by a fair number of very small but very very rich countries. Luxembourg, the leader, being a tax haven and a population of half a million (!!) does not make it the healthiest and best economy.

[tormeh]

Total GDP is irrelevant to everything. People use it like it means something, and it's just annoying.

[orf]

Ok, that's quite convenient. What metric would you use? Because Germany has a higher GDP per capita than the UK or France. It would be a hard point to argue that any other country in the EU has a stronger economy than those three.

[dx034]

There's no reliable indicator to define success. GDP per capita is skewed heavily by some industries and doesn't represent how well people are doing.

Germany is certainly not the richest country in Europe but it has been one of the most successful when measured vs. 15 years ago. But that was achieved mainly by keeping wages low so that Germans, while usually living comfortably and not threatened by unemployment, have much less wealth than people in the UK or US.