The European debt crisis and its effects on Germany's economic competitiveness

For Germany, as a strongly export-oriented economy, competitiveness on the international markets is of critical importance for its wealth and economic growth. A loss of competitive advantages could therefore severely affect the German economy. The aim of this book is to answer the question if and in what way this threat affected Germany’s economic competitiveness during the European debt crisis. The results will then be used to further define the publicly dominant disadvantages as well as possible advantages for Germany as a consequence of the crisis. In the end, the book also has the objective to give policy recommendations for the euro crisis from a German perspective. The results can subsequently contribute to the discussion whether Germany’s current policy is really „without any alternative“. In order to achieve the overall research goal, a combination of literature review and comprehensive data analysis is used. First of all, to provide a first „pillar“ of contextual background for the following analysis, an overview of the development and causes of the European debt crisis is given by referring to existing literature. Also, this section presents the financial and economic consequences of the described events in a graphical manner. Secondly, to construct the second pillar of conceptual framework, the term „economic competitiveness” is defined by a comprehensive literature review. Emphasis is put upon the concept of „ability to sell” and the measurement method of the country rankings while a short overview of other concepts is also provided. Finally, in combining theory and practice, an in-depth data-based analysis of the development of Germany’s economic competitiveness is given. With the help of various publicly available data sources, Germany’s ability to sell and other competitiveness metrics are tracked and elaborated on over the last centuries, with a special emphasis on the timeframe of the European debt crisis. Furthermore, comparisons to other countries are made to emphasize characteristics unique to Germany. Ultimately, the results of the analyses are evaluated and concluded in a short discussion about Germany’s current policy in the euro crisis.