German Economy
Germany also is a “green” country with the Green Party gaining more and more votes. Also Germany is actively using alternative energy sources to power the country. Companies looking to take advantage of alternative energy are eligible to receive heavy subsidization.
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Germany has a Social Market economy. The principle of a Social Market Economy is to create equality, but to still protect the supply and demand system. The government uses regulation to establish fair competition. According to the Social Market Economy, the government provides for people who may not be able to earn money due to any sort of disability. The government also provides social programs as a part of the Social Market. Social programs are government funded programs that help people who, for whatever reason, cannot support themselves.
Germany has universal healthcare that is subsidized at a rate of seventy-seven percent. Germany’s main exports are motor vehicles, machinery and chemicals. Industry does make up a large portion (28.1 percent) of the German economy, but the main component of the German economy, like most industrialized and advanced countries, is service (71.1 percent) with the remaining portion from agriculture. Germany has the highest GDP in the European Union at 3.57 trillion dollars. The German GDP is also the fourth highest in the World. Recently, there have been several reforms that Germany instated to cope with the failing economy of the EU. The reforms can not be categorized together as either liberal or conservative. Germany cut spending to many programs but also raised wages and cut hours. This helped keep the unemployment rate low. To keep the workforce strong and the populace employed, Germany also has installed a system of apprenticeships that allows citizens to train in an occupation for a few years as a secondary school. After the apprenticeship, the citizen is practically guaranteed a job. |