hey guys welcome back to foreign reacts today we're going to be checking out a very interesting
video this one is titled economy of germany and uh obviously economy finances right so it should
be a very interesting video and um i just want to say that uh thank you guys for watching and
supporting the channel i really appreciate it uh it's almost the end of march right so um obviously
i'll be moving on to another country in uh europe uh doing a you know a series for them i'm not sure
what country it's going to be next so if you guys want to suggest any one of the countries that uh
i'm probably going to um do a poll on the channel and you guys can actually select which country
i should do next so um without further ado guys we're gonna check out this video right now so um
don't worry i'm not gonna entirely stop doing german reaction videos it's just for a period
so videos will con continuously be added to the series but i will not be doing a succession like
boom boom boom germany germany germany back to back back to back right so um without further ado
guys let's get right into the reaction video guten tag germany the country known for luxurious cars
enchanting castles zestful festivals frothy beer scrumptious bread fkk culture love for football
being the biggest economy in europe and the fourth largest economy in the world by gdp
takes pride in building up itself from square one no matter how much they are pushed back
they will march forward and despite its fair share of highs and lows over time the economy
of germany is no joke because in germany there are no that thing pretty this thing pretty like i for
some reason like america is beautiful i i've seen the ups and downs of america well not really the
down part i've not really seen the the down down down but i've seen the down part on videos right
but i've seen the ups of america and i'm telling you there are way more attractive things in this
picture to me than with america because all these high-rise skyscrapers in america are that building
and there's nothing as unique as seeing a castle because i've never seen that before
yo i need to i need to i need to you know dive out in germany and check it out real real life
jokes if you have any we would love to hear them in the comment section below
the industrial revolution began about a century later in germany than it did in great britain
because germany did not exist as one political unit until 1871. this development was done at
a remarkable pace and the country excelled that progress was carried to the next century until
they decided to use this advantage to go on in a war and not just an ordinary war but a world war
only to see a loss but not just an ordinary loss but a big one that brought its economy to shambles
the victorious allies decided to punish germany with massive war reparations germany was already
demolished and penalties made the situation even worse they tried to pay it off by printing money
and the country had to face one of the worst hyperinflation between 1921-1923 the country
kept on facing troubles and it eventually gave rise to this austrian-born german mustache guy
who decided to steer the country's economy towards massive military spendings and decided to go in on
yet another war because for some reasons looting others wealth seemed like a great idea and again
not just an ordinary war but a big one the world war ii and again it was lost during world war ii
the nazis inflicted a system of economic controls on production prices and wages on top of that they
printed money to cover a part of the cost of war which resulted in inflation along with tons of
other factors that brought the country to a social and economic collapse by the time they surrendered
in 1945. the allies that bombed germany in world war ii decided the fate of the country yet again
and ended up dividing it into two parts west germany under the control of the united states
great britain and france while east germany under the control of the soviet union
from here east and west germany went on to pursue different journeys western forces decided that
it wasn't a good idea to put the nation through the same cycle of reparations just like they did
earlier instead they should be helped sort of like keep your friends close and your enemies closer
so a plan was implemented which is referred to as the marshall plan to rebuild the country aided by
the western powers the purpose of this plan was to ensure that germans won't fall for any other
nationalistic leader like the mustache guy or get inclined towards any communist ideologies
marshall plans effectiveness in the uplift of the country is a common viewpoint but not the only
reason behind germany's economic success a small group of german free market advocates who survived
the war had maintained a connection with each other in hopes of sharing ideas one of the prime
figures was walter yukin who was a professor at the university of freberg one of ukin's disciples
named ludwig erhard was later appointed as economics minister in the american zone in 1946.
erhard brought major reforms and advocated for a free market economy and emphasized frequently
that germans have to accept their tough conditions and only hard work and self-responsibility could
make them prosper and attain a new place among the civilized nations of the world
american and british zones were combined into one in 1948 and erhard was appointed as the director
of the economy a new currency was brought in and the money supply was controlled by allowing the
west germany citizens to exchange 10 old marks for one new mark erhard went on to end the price and
production controls on a sunday when all the allied authorities were out of their offices
earhart announced on the radio that the next day nearly all price control policies would end
a commander of the american authorities called earhart into his office and said uh earhart my
advisors tell me you're making a terrible mistake erhard replied don't listen to them general my
advisers tell me the same thing the recovery began the hoarded goods came out of hidings as
they could be sold at competitive market prices industrial production increased substantially in
the next couple of years there was a spike in prices after the price control policies
were abolished but the cost of living was reduced once the agricultural and industrial output was
increased the economic success guided its way into the 1960s and the productivity showed west germany
to overshine other nations in western europe including the victors of war such as great britain
but west germany never transformed into a total free market economy the architects of the reforms
including ludwig earhart remained advocates of the middle way somewhere in between the free
market and socialist planning called the social market economy also known as ryan capitalism the
social part of the social market economy is often confused with socialism and democratic socialism
etc sure it has similarities but it has many differences too for example it is not pumped
by oil like in some scandinavian countries on the other side the eastern bloc or as known as east
germany was a different story inclined towards a classic socialist economy while west germany was
progressing and termed as an economic miracle east germany went through terrible financial
times under the planned economy of the soviet union factories that were not destroyed during
wartime were dismantled into pieces and shipped to the soviet union who had implemented a communist
political structure headed by stalin various other aspects made east germany lag behind although it's
just crazy how you could think about it that an entire country could be separated in east and west
like literally even the berlin wall i need to learn more about the berlin wall i need to learn
about it the soviets were keen on showcasing it as a paradise which it wasn't by any standards
the city of berlin split between the eastern and western forces was a strange place as it was
making the contrast between east and west economic conditions look more evident soviets didn't want
german citizens of their side to see the obvious growth on the western bloc nor they wanted people
to start shifting to the other side they started injecting money to their side of the city and when
that did not work they decided to erect a long wall in between also known as the berlin wall the
wall of shame remained standing for almost three decades until it was demolished a couple of years
before the fall of the soviet union with the fall of the wall east and west germany were unified
germany's reunification was not an easy task from an economic point of view merging one part of the
country that was seeing an economic boom with another part that came out of a communist regime
was not easy but as always germany was able to fix a situation eventually but what is it about
the economy of germany that makes sure it keeps on emerging back against the constant challenges
when talking about germany's economic capacity mercedes and bmw and other fancy car companies do
get a mention but they're not the steering wheel that drives the economy it's the medium-sized
companies that are the backbone and not-so-secret recipe of the german economy also known as
middlestand some people describe middlestand as small and medium-sized enterprises or smes but the
definition of smes is comparatively restrictive and it's not directly equivalent to middle stones
minnesotan firms are mostly family-owned private businesses often of small size to medium range
characterized by a common set of values and operational practices it is more like a business
culture with firms having a unique way of doing things the firms are mostly run by the owner
entrepreneurial families who are interested in the sustainability and longevity of the business they
are highly focused on the idea of doing one thing well first and diversifying internationally later
while the world keeps on praising the serial entrepreneurs middlestone companies are geared
by love and commitment for a product or service middle stunt companies are in it for the long
run which makes it different from the typical public firms around the world who have to face
pressure quarterly or annually to meet the financial targets many of the companies are
engaged in producing that appears to be just mundane building blocks you know the nuts and
bolts but they specialize in it and they keep their dominance in the international marketplace
there are many traits associated with this model that includes family ownership
generational continuity long-term focus emotional attachment with the product or services investment
into the workforce social responsibility linkage to the local community that makes a lot of sense
because if you're doing all of these things you definitely will actually succeed a lot of
business owners they practically just to get into it for the money
i'm not trying to say don't try to make some cash what i'm trying to say is um
if you focus more on um the task that you're given you're actually going to get uh your benefits
from it right so focusing on the money it will actually divert your attention and you'll miss
your opportunities right focusing on the skills and what you need to do i think that's a better
thing to do so i really really actually agree with this part hierarchies and customer focus etc
to grow wealth one of the vital financials is to not spend beyond your means
germany seems to follow this rule in the best possible way that's true both for its people
and the government while this seems to be an old way of doing things but it works great for germany
while discussing the student loan debt in an earlier video on the channel we discussed that
debts are generally not for everyone few thrive with it and others struggle with it germany seems
to understand it very well people and the government both are less inclined towards
borrowing money unless it's really important lower corruption rate in the government sector has also
helped the country to increase its wealth and hold a good reputation and public trust
have you ever heard of countries lowering the value of its currency to boost their exports
germany did it too but not the way the us did it with japan through the plaza accord they did
it differently that is by adopting the euro while euro is a powerful currency now if germany didn't
adopt it back in its time deutsche mark would have been a highly expensive currency to convert to
adopting euro made the country sell and export their products at lower prices to many countries
germany is the third biggest exporter in the world after the united states and china
the country's exports exceed the cost of its imports that makes it one of the countries
with the highest balance of payment surplus while you may think that china is the biggest
production house in the world germany is no short of being termed as the world's ultimate factory
sure china makes tv screens to mobile phones to almost everything we buy but the machines and
equipment used to make these products come from germany in short germany makes things
that china utilizes to make other things the more china sells a part of it goes to germany germany
is successful because germans are successful its people are its biggest asset the country's
strength is fueled by its education system though it has received its fair share of criticism too
if you are a high school student and don't want to pursue academia the vocational training system
is great in germany and less stigmatized unlike other countries hands-on work and manual skills
are not underestimated in the country educational i really like that i really like that because not
everybody's going to be one and two oh i want to be a doctor i want to be a scientist i want to go
to spanish no you know if you like what you like you like what you like what i don't want people to
be doing is to be settling for uh criminal activities i mean like you know oh i don't
like school so i'm going to just rob somebody or i don't like school so i'm going to become a scammer
or you know something dumb right um not not to try to make anybody feel stupid or nothing but stay
away from that type of stuff because they take you up then right back down right so when you when
you analyze things like these i really am very proud of every country who actually implements um
stuff like this where you don't necessarily have to focus on an education you can focus on a skill
which a skill can get you paid you know and one day maybe you'll find a love for your heart loving
your heart for um the education you know of the skill so work closely with industries to innovate
many apprentices receive more on-the-job training hours in the workplace than they spend in school
that makes them fully ready for the job that's beneficial both to the students and the companies
these training programs also give students a salary that means you are completing the
program with money in your pocket this setup is also great to keep the unemployment low and it's
also one of the reasons germans usually did not leave the country for education or jobs
the industry contributes to around 30 of the gdp i got a visit i got a visit i think somebody
actually said about this in uh one of my videos that i did they were like the mercedes-benz um
something but this says stadium right so i got a visit i got a visit definitely got a visit and
mercedes y'all gotta you know give me a vehicle for free and you know yeah
because i cannot afford you know which keeps one-fourth of the german workforce employed
germany outshines in the production and export of the automobile industry and with big names
like audi bmw mercedes porsche volkswagen etc it enjoys a dominant position in the car industry
with around 90 percent of the world market share in what's described as a premium segment
the country was criticized for not jumping on the bandwagon of dot com and internet boom back in the
90s the country kept its focus on manufacturing and industry and it seemed to have worked great
for the country the business seems to linger in incorporating modern tech but it has been able
to live up to the changing times it appears that germans unlike us companies like to test waters
before sailing the country has been allegedly criticized for exporting arms to the countries
that are involved in conflict regions and human rights violations germany is in the top 5 biggest
arms exporter in the world despite being one of the biggest industrial countries germany
has almost one third of its area covered by forest the forestry industry covers around two-thirds of
domestic wood and wooden products demand although agriculture contributes to less than 0.9 percent
of the country's gdp it covers around 90 percent of its nutritional demand domestic production can
fulfill the needs of the locals which means less reliance on the outside world for basic needs
germans prefer their own products it's really hard to convince germans that another product
is better than theirs try telling them how french automobiles are better than german cars
or czech republic's beer has a better taste and see how that goes
protectionism is another topic but it is very debatable and hard to prove
germany has one of the biggest tourism industries and is in the top 10 list of the most visited
countries in the world by international tourist arrivals the tourism industry contributes to
almost five percent of the country's gdp employing almost five percent of the total workforce
germany is known for punctuality except for its trains which is a whole different story
from world war one war reparations to hyperinflation from building themselves
up again to the great depression and world war ii from rebuilding the country after the war to the
reunification of the country and embracing the less economically stable have from the
eurozone crisis to the global financial crisis and brexit germany has seen its fair share of
troubles but it always marches forward german efficiency is real and its economy is no joke
thank you for watching we will try to reply to everyone in the comment section below
wow that was that was beautiful that that was beautiful actually really really a beautiful video
um that was a really beautiful video i'm telling you german y'all doing your thing over there bro
and you know that type of belief system where you nobody can actually convince you easily that
their product is better will allow your country to you know be at a higher level of um stability in
terms of economic um basis whatever related stuff you know it's really good because you're buying
what you you make that's really really a beautiful thing and um keep it up man keep it up germany is
really beautiful i need to do a video related to german you know castles and how it looks and such
such such i should i should do a video of that but um guys i'm out of here man until next time peace