Agriculture in Germany is a small sector of the German economy.

The German economy faced a decade of high unemployment and slow growth.

The plan also stated that European prosperity was contingent upon German economic recovery.

The German army's manpower had been severely depleted after four years of war, and its economy and society were under great internal strain.

The most interesting analogies are Germany s rise in the 19th century and Japan s in the 20th.

In the second quarter, the German economy shrank at an annualized, seasonally and calendar adjusted rate of 2 .

But a weaker German economy makes adjustment in the periphery even more difficult.

After years of stagnant growth, the German economy has been growing at an annual rate of about 2.5 in 2006.

Nevertheless, there is every reason to expect the German economy s upswing to continue for the time being.

It is now clearly in territory that implies an economic downturn.

Germany has historically been the main trading partner of Austria, making it vulnerable to rapid changes in the German economy.

Small wonder, then, that Germany s economy rockets when the world s demand for capital goods soars.

The current strength of the German economy is also partly due to this temporary demographic stabilization.

As the DM became a major international reserve currency during the 1980 s and 1990 s, large gyrations in the dollar exchange rate did, indeed, have at times a dramatic impact on the German economy.

Deep service sector reforms would thus be necessary to generate meaningful productivity gains in the German economy.

Germany has historically been the main trading partner of Austria, making it vulnerable to rapid changes in the German economy.

As the Financial Times Martin Wolf, among others, has pointed out, the German economy has been free riding on global demand.

America fears deflation Europe driven by its largest economy, Germany fears national debt and inflation.

A downturn hit the German economy for the first time since industrial development began to surge in the 1850s.

By that time, the German economy will also be weakening, so that Chancellor Angela Merkel will find it even more difficult than today to persuade the German public to accept additional European responsibilities.

Such rapid industrial rises are rare, but not unprecedented. The most interesting analogies are Germany s rise in the 19th century and Japan s in the 20th.

And, given that this year s growth has largely already occurred, Germany s economy has now plateaued and could even be contracting.

Even in the current period of growing optimism about the German economy, the nation s trade unions are showing themselves to be moderate.

Unfortunately, however, the upturn in the business cycle cannot be taken as a sign of structural improvement in the German economy.

The Ifo business cycle indicator is now clearly in boom territory, with regard both to expectations and to assessments of the current situation.

So far, Chancellor Angela Merkel has been largely successful in insulating the German economy from the turmoil elsewhere in Europe.

As the world s second largest exporter, the German boom was initially driven by foreign sales.

If China and America had not pumped partly debt financed money into their economies beginning in 2009, the German economy would have taken a serious hit.

German Minister of Economics and Technology Philipp Rösler said that many German firms are already relocating to the US because of lower energy prices.

The problem is that what really ails the German economy is low domestic consumption and investment, which still need to be addressed.

Of course, Germans are not entirely wrong the crisis in Europe s periphery is weakening Germany s economic growth prospects.

But the ECB has signaled that big interest rate cuts are unlikely as long as the German economy remains strong, with relatively low unemployment.

A more important explanation for Germany s current economic success may be the substantial government support that German industries receive on a structural basis, especially the car industry.

The situation is similar to Germany s challenge to British geopolitical hegemony in the nineteenth century, when the German economy blossomed.

The crucial point is not the German economy s renewed strength, but whether Germany will use this strength in Europe s interest or its own.

But a preliminary comparison between Europe s largest economy, Germany, and the US suggests that the former is better equipped to hold its own in the age of globalization.

German General Erich Ludendorff later calls this the black day of the German Army.

The Limits of German Guilt

The Roots of German Openness

The Return of the Ugly German

Celebrating the German Model

The European constitution has failed, the Lisbon reform treaty is in limbo after the Irish rejected it, and stronger European economic governance is blocked by German French disunity.

In April 2010, the International Monetary Fund s World Economic Outlook projected 1.8 annual GDP growth in Germany and the Netherlands in 2013.

Germany The modern German part of the Northern European Lowlands is also known as the North German Plain.

If German banks drop out of the refinancing business, the European Central Bank will lose the direct control over the German economy that it used to have via its interest rate policy.