| > Facts are that electricity in Germany is much more expensive compared to countries without an Energiewende. This is not a positive for German industry, plain and simple. The economic data of the last decade says EXACTLY the opposite. Record unemployment, record exports, very competitive industry ... - all despite the financial crisis.
We are talking about FACTS. Fact is that the energy intensive industry has lower energy prices. Fact is, Germany has more industry than France, much more and it is also more efficient. Fact is Germany exports a lot of energy technology. Fact is: German industry has very efficient tools and processes - due to energy prices and the large amount of research and development in this area. Exactly this stuff sells excellent on the world market. Fact is German's industry is in much better shape than France. A simple look at the economic data should make that clear for you. > Germany currently has low unemployment and high prosperity because it's executing it's own Marshallplan. Lending trillions to other EU states, and getting that money back through selling cars to them. Fact is: Germany is selling world wide. Fact is: Germany is selling much more than cars. > German cars are known for many good things, but their price is not one of them. Okay? > The price, however, WTF. Last year Germany sold goods and services for 1.09 trillion Euros. All time record. Fact. Despite energy prices. If the Energiewende, which started in 2000, has had any effects on German economic performance, we want more of that. |
Then Germany lent out $XX trillion and in return received sales of $X trillion. Germany lent out money they didn't have (ie. vast majority freshly printed money), and lent it out at record low interest rates, because it's sales were dropping. The "Energiewende" was just one more of those loans, which Germany made out to itself.
Those results, while they provided quite a bit of economic improvement, are not exactly impressive. Using these techniques, a company called "anthrax diarrhoea and coffees" can sell for billions to the medical establishment.
I'm not saying Germany doesn't have impressive engineering, and research (though not as impressive as the US has, and it's not like it matters, cost dominates everything and copying is much more efficient than research). I would argue Germany does not have impressive efficiency. However no sane person believes that's what's made the difference in the last 10 years.