Germany's election

A change of partners?

Angela Merkel would like to head a new coalition. That would be just the start to answering Germany’s long-term problems

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Readers' comments



Voting for "Bündnis/90 Die Grünen" means voting for Atavist Liars Being Teachers.
Germany has degraded dramatically during the rule of the Greens and their Red cousins.
We can do better; vote CDU/CSU/FDP.


Those who vote SPD will vote for four more years of clueless stagnation. We urgently need less regulation for all non-financial firms and a less obese state.
If you start a new business here in Germany, you are first paper-bombarded and scared by the financial and Guild authorities. Then it turns out you only have to deny paying them and all is OK.
I think we could easily boot out those lazy administrators whose job is to scare entrepreneurs. What we need are politcians who can think and talk in much less twisted ways, despite the fact that the Evangelische Kirche Deutschlands is a tongue-twisting institution. Can someone stand up and say "Luther talked trash when said the 'xxyyxxxyyy'" ?


You’re probably correct in your assumption that I’m a bit biased when it comes to Iranians in Germany. But my earlier statement was based on the statistics given by the Hesse School Bureau (admittingly is the state of Hesse together with Hamburg leading in ‘integration of immigrants’ in Germany). Also the Goethe Institute came to similar conclusions in 2007.

But what is true for Germany might not be true for the US since the USA, as a traditional mixed immigration nation, practises a strict ‘immigration-pre-selection’ on potential immigrants, something unknown in most European ‘nation-states’ which only now are starting to ‘legalize immigration’. Earlier they were mainly ‘guest workers’ who were considered ‘temporary’ or ‘asylum seekers’ who also were not considered as ‘permanent’ – leaving again when ever the political situation in the countries of their origin betters. This approach is only now slowly changing – realizing that the European countries are in fact “immigration countries”.

As you rightly stated, almost all “Iranians who moved to European countries were in Shah's close circle”. Some had European education, but not all. With all their follies were the Shah and his supporters at least much more secular than the average Iranian nowadays. That is why I pinpointed the success of Iranians (Persians) in Germany to their secularism and thus their readiness to integrate into a secular society (what the German society thouroughly is).

The Iranian immigrants to the US might reflect much more the religious Iranian groupings that are currently mostly absent in Germany. But also in the US are medical doctors (as they dominate the field of plastic surgery in many US states) and lawyers ‘overrepresented’ compared to national average. But I am very aware that Islamism in Iran is poison for the scientific and economic development of that (or any) country.

You mentioned Italian immigrants to Germany: The Italians in Germany are not really considered ‘foreigners’ any more by the German born natives. As ‘old’ members of the European Union they are generally just seen as another co-European people. Plus, many of the descendants of the early 'guest workers' are now third-generation residents and thus, sharing the same culture, not recognizable any more . . . except for their beautiful 'Italian' names maybe.


Iranians who moved to European countries were in Shah's close circle. They mostly had educated in Europe or USA (not in Iran). When poor and jobless Italian moved to Switzerland or the US, their plans were to make money, save and return back to Italy.
When it comes to education Indians, Pakistanis, Vietnamese and Chinese do much better than Iranian counterparts in Europe and in the US. You are always pushing the idea that Iranians are very smart, because you had children from an Iranian ex-wife. Iran has almost no industry, well almost other than selling crude oil and rug and importing refined oil, food and nuclear technology from Pakistan and rocket lunch technology from North Korea.. The per person income of Iran is one tenth of Italy one third of Turkey and slightly better than that of Egypt
Even though a million of Iranians live in the USA, their political and cultural cloud is undetectable. Because Iranians never proud of their race. Iranians always introduce themselves as Persians or Italians. When they found out they are talking to real a Italian, they walk away with an embarrassment.


Who ever said earlier that the German "guild-protection" system has to be abandoned (or thoroughly reformed) has my agreement. No need for a window-cleaner, a gas-station clerk or a basic hairdresser to "learn" 3 years.

Different is this with e.g. mechanics, electricians or plumbers. I can clearly see a grave disparity in quality in these “professions” between Germany and the US. Here in the US most “craftspeople” wouldn’t even pass the first year apprentice test in Germany. The workmanship of many “skilled” workmen in the US is very, very poor.

- But I am afraid that the needed reform in Germany isn't done with the FDP (the guardian of the mittelstand-guilds). For such a task would probably be the Greens and/or the Left the better parties.


By voting CDU Merkel and FDP Westerwelle into power the Germans will penalize themselves as a mayor export nation.

How can Westerwelle whose Liberal Party promoted the support of the Dalai Lama in 2007 in there Brussel meeting wit European Ttaxpayers money, that cosequently led to the Lhasa Pogroms in 200,ever hope to get a Chinese Visa should he become Foreign secretary (Aussenminister)to look after the interests of the German Industry in China.Nobody will take him serious in Beijing,he is a joke.

Further the Germans should remember the knowledgeable and well informed role of Franz Walter Steinmeier in the Georgian - Russian conflict and what a disaster could have happened in Europe would he have believed the Israelis and the Bush administration.

NATO would have followed there backing of Shakashwilly .Georgia was encouraged by the US and thought it could ethnically cleanse South Ossetia of Russian people right on Russia's door step, thanks to Steinmeier that did not happen. Later Georgia could have served as a strategic point for Israeli air raids into Iran,how stupid do the Israelis think we are in Europe?

Europe should give thanks to Franz Walter Steinmeier and his SPD who prevented all this mayham and mass killings and in my view he should be this years candidate for the Nobel Peace Laureate , he earned it well,my sincere thanks to him. And my apology, I am sorry I never liked socialists but in this matter they saved Europe.

Konrad Walter

It is surely one of Germanys biggest issues right now, that it is too dependend on export and that the consumer market is too week to offset the decline in the exports. One of the challenges for the next government, what ever coalition it will be, is to strengthen the consumer market. This will only be possible with an decline in tax rates and there is probably no room for.

The actually governing grand coalition has done a good job. But, I admit, that the circumstances with a worldwide growing economy during the last two - three years helped the grand coalition to improve Germanys overall appearance. The current crisis did not yet arrive at the ordinary german resident. The unemployment is still very low due to state subsidies. But, this will change soon after the election.

I wouldn´t consider the ageing of the population as one of the main issues. It is a big issue, but it might be solved through immigration. But, what is needed is a integration plan for immigrants that includes education and access to universities.

Ageing of the population will surely have an impact on the state pensions. But the government introduced several schemes for employees to join pension plans. It is combined with variouls tax benefits. The gap between the state pensions and the pension needed for an adequate life style will be closed with closed with this new pension plans.


Germanys long time problems are in my opinion smaller than Britain's long time problems. We have a large number of computer literate people who could quickly change their occupation into something resembling the City Of London. But that would imply a Scare Force (SAS etc) that would compel the world to carry money into Frankfurt. Germany's business model is to sell scary cars, machine tools, chemicals and a large number of other products to world.
The British want to make us their identical twin, and then they do not want that. Because there can only be one rich bulldog on the globe. We are seeing through this.


As other posters have pointed out, the Green and Leftist Parties have made Germany the loo of the world. Many countries send their least-educated people to Germany so that their social problems are fixed and these people get free education, free housing and free health care.
Visas are too often for sale by corrupt embassy employees, who try to emulate people like Joschka Fischer. He is now a lobbyist for BMW and RWE (a major nuclear power generator). Go figure yourself.
We urgently need a new Director Of Loo Operations.


As you can see none of the writer here actually agree with your writing on Germany. If you know more about the Germany Banking problem, let us have the information and stop giving us all this speculative or guess work on the problem with the German bank.
That country has enough problem and require changes in some areas, but you are just wrong on the majority of the comments in your article and more wrong suggesting the kind of government that should rule the country. I do personally like the FDP but that doesn't mean they can correct the ills of that country. Let nature take it course and as you will agree nature can be very slow in taking it course. It is all these knee jack reaction and anxiety of getting everything done in a twinkle of an eye that is causing most of the problem and greed in the anglo phone countries. Leave Germany to is train like acceleration. When it finally take off it will get to its destination quicker than the jet like Britain and the US and it will carry more weight than the combined anglo phone countries. Respect that country for what it is rather than critising and bringing its system and people down.

yummy marzipan

Germany is not Britain. Surely things could be better. The always do. But instead throwing itself into the banking and insurance business Germany maintains a skilled work force, produces cool things and keeps the economical machine well oiled. I think that this indeed a good thing and keeps not only Germany's but also Europe's competitiveness as a whole afloat. Don't we like their great cars and innovative stuff? And can you name another country that managed to accommodate a broke little brother country in such a short time? I think in many respects this country is simply amazing!


jomellon thank you for yor comment. I think you actually give this writer the corect answer.


First, I don't think the writer of this article knows the Germany terraine at all. You will do well to live underground and see the plight of the ordinary German before you choose a government for them.
I wonder how confussed poeple can be with all this superficial analysis when they should first look at the facts on the ground before they start commenting. If not for the last SDP-Green coalition which the CDU frustrated at every turn, that country will still be in the duldrum.
I think you should leave the German volk to choose their government while you go and learn more about the workings of that country for you to make any meaningful contribution next time.
Go to Ireland and the UK to preach your gospel they are the poeple who need your lesson (especially the confused Irish government). Leave the Germans alone, they know what they are doing!



You are wrong. Workers can also take take part in other educational programs.

And not everything is decided in the 4th grade. You still can change to a higher school later if your grades are good enough.


"Most Germans credit the government’s anti-recession measures, such as . . . subsidies for firms to hold on to workers, for the fact that unemployment has risen only mildly so far."

Right. Just that this unemployment rate is a lie. These subsidies are for "Kurzarbeit" (literally short-work), a term that means firms do not lay off workers, but rather cut their hours to roughly half the full-time employment of 38.5 hours a week, and cut their labor expenses even further by taking these aforementioned subsidies from the government to help pay the workers. In a true free-market economy, these workers would have been laid off long ago. Instead of paying unemployment benefits to individuals, the German government is paying them directly to companies, who pass them on to the worker, who has to make do with about a 50% cut in income. Oh, yeah, but that worker isn't "unemployed." Got it.

The problem lies in the German labor system, which has its roots in the guild system, which the article mentions. Laborers and clerical workers must "learn" (i.e. apprentice) a job for three(!) years at less than full wage until they have "acquired" (with certification) a trade or profession. After that, they are stuck. So, if you live in an industrial city like Saarlouis and are a professional metalworker who lost his/her job and can't find another, you either have to spend three years learning a new job that may or may not be there in three years or just take the dreaded "Hartz IV" long-term unemployment benefits. All this because your grades weren't good enough in 4th grade and you went to the lowest level secondary school.

Germany's economic problems are myriad and no easy solution is in sight.


" . . . the German model where special attention can be given to those that need it while the achievers can be given greater challenges".
- I agree. But my family is privileged in this school system. All my 5 children went to Gymnasium (the top tier school in Germany’s three-tier-school ranking) . . . even the ones who started school in an US Elementary School.

The question remains: When to start with the selection. The individual German States (there is no uniform Federal school system) start mostly after the 4th grade. This might be a bit too early and is in some cases rather negative. On the “negative side” we have therefore to add the fact that children with ‘foreign’ background and/or language handicaps have sometimes a hard time to show their true talents in only 4 years.

A fair adjustment is here necessary. Of course this varies very much. E.g., Muslim immigrants with Iranian background are outperforming their German born peers, according to statistics of the Hesse Schulamt. Also later do Iranian immigrants rank ‘above average’ in income (similar is true for Lebanese Christian immigrants).

So this can not be due to a “planned” or “intentional” disadvantage of immigrants, as this magazine might suggest by saying: “If Germany is going to defuse the ‘time bomb’ of immigrant dropouts and head off a ruinous skills shortage, it will have to overhaul education”.

Neither can it be due only to the ‘cultural background’, since both outperforming student groups share the Middle Eastern background. It is rather so that e.g. Iranians who came here are more likely to be ‘secular’ (since they ran away from an Islamist state) completely contrary to their Turkish counterparts who are often more 'Islamite' here than even "home in Turkey". They try everything to segregate their children from their ‘infidel’ (pork eating) German peers. This is surely the main reason why the dropout rate among students with Turkish background is so skyrocketing.

It is thus the Turkish community that has to "reform" and not only the German side. Most Turkish youth simply lack (purposely) the “cultural techniques” of the host country that are necessary to be successful in said society.

But positive is that the German three-tier school system (which The Economist wants to be “down-reformed”, maybe after the Anglo model) takes at least honestly into consideration that people have different IQs from birth on. A fact that many left leaning politicians tended to ignore until recently.


In Quebec (CA) we are facing the same problems with a high drop-out rate amongst high school students. We have tire going down the path of integrating slow and fast learners. This has resulted in creating a mediocre learning environment where the number of high achievers has been reduced and the drop out rate worsened.

We are now thinking of following the German model where special attention can be given to those that need it while the achievers can be given greater challenges.


@Make Love
It’s probably known by now that I am very critical towards Muslim immigration into Europe. And I believe strongly that mass immigration serves only a few, those that can send their kids to private schools and do not live in German neighbourhoods where the only “social” participation in public life are honking auto-parades celebrating the defeat of the German soccer team . . . by Turkey.

But there is no other way than trying to assimilate the kids from early time on, even if this has to be achieved by an early “kindergartenzwang” (like schulzwang). They Muslim immigrants are here in Germany stay. If we somehow manage to make them loyal to the host country – instead of always longing for their home-culture . . . even after 3 generations, then this will be better in the long run for all of us.

Otherwise it’s just “cultivating” a ticking time-bomb.


@Make Love not War
"No, seriously. I have lived for about half my life in Germany, on and off. I remember that there used to be political TV shows that were regarded "right", and others that were "left". Now everything is left."

Lol that's funny.
I regularely visit an other forum with some rather "left" members where many members always complain about the medias being too "neoliberal" and that they always were commenting badly against the Left-Party, although - at least public TV - should report neutrally.

Probably the truth is in the middle and your point of view is just relative. When you are "left" the medias are too right in your point of view, when you are on the "right" wing the medias are too "left". :p

BTW: There is no extreme left in Germany.
The Left-Party we have today isn't socialistic. At least on the paper. The content of their election program could also have come from the SPD in former decades. They actually have communist members and many Ex-SED, but they lose more and more influence.
Many of their members in the west are socialdemocrats that left the SPD because of the dominance of the 'Seeheimer Kreis'. If the Left-Party still wants to stay above 5% in future (and they want, power is seductive) their communist wing will continue to lose more and more power. Just as the communists lost all their influence in the Green-Party in the 90s. With a strong communist wing the Left wouldn't get more percent than the MLPD, so they will drop them by and by ;)


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