German Economic "Miracle" Continues as 5.2% GDP Growth Blasts Past U.S.

Hmmm... so a country which embraces rather than offshores its manufacturing base can succeed?  One where labor has a substantial seat on the boards of its mega corporations?  A place where business and government work together in national goals - thinking out more than 1 election cycle?  A country where all policy is not based on which lobbying dollar of a multinational can create the most difficulty for small and medium sized business - or hollowing out as much of the middle class as possible?  Where taxes are "high"?  And "uncertainty" is rampant (3 of the 17 EU members are in some sort of bailout program)?  With unemployment rates below that of the States?  [Jun 16, 2009: As Euro Zone Unemployment Spikes; Job Saving Measures Emerge - Completely UnAmerican]  And people still get 5-6 weeks a vacation a year?  Without running 10% annual deficits? (I wonder if 1 in 7 Germans are on food stamps?)  And with a rallying (dare I say "strong") currency to boot?? These damn unflexible "socialists" - that's no way to run a country....

Better not let anyone stateside know about this, or a lot of dogma is going to be crushed...

Via Bloomberg:

• German gross domestic product jumped 1.5% from the fourth quarter, exceeding economists’ median forecasts of 0.9%.  From a year earlier, German GDP surged 5.2%, the biggest increase recorded since reunification two decades ago.
• “The recovery has become more broad-based,” said Andreas Scheuerle, an economist at Dekabank in Frankfurt. “While the German economy certainly won’t keep this fantastic pace, the outlook is pretty rosy.” 
• “These are fantastic figures,” said Alexander Krueger, head of capital-market analysis at Bankhaus Lampe KG in Dusseldorf. “We expect full-year growth of more than 3 percent. The skies are blue right now for the German economy.”  
• Company investment, construction and household consumption all contributed to German growth, the statistics office said. With exports and imports both expanding, net trade made a smaller contribution than domestic demand, it said.
• German exports surged 7.3% in March to the highest monthly value since records began in 1950, and industrial production increased for a third month as construction surged. 
• At 7.1%, unemployment is the lowest on record in reunified Germany.
• “If anything, the risks for German growth are on the upside,” said James Nixon, chief European economist at Societe Generale SA in London. “Germany has done its homework, has put in place some painful reforms and is benefiting now.”

[Jan 13, 2011: Germany Puts Finishing Touches on Impressive 2010]
[Oct 1, 2010:  German Unemployment Rate Down to 7.2% after Peaking at 8.7%; Can We Learn Anything?]
[Jun 30, 2009: Will Germany Transform Itself?  Does it Want to?]
[May 21, 2008: Who is the World's Largest Merchandise Exporter? Not China. Or the US]