Thinking Citizen Blog — The Economy Of Germany (Part One): What Should Every Thinking Citizen Know?
Thinking Citizen Blog — Tuesday is Economics, Finance, and Business Day
Today’s Topic: The Economy of Germany (Part One): What Should Every Thinking Citizen Know?
Last time, the economy of France. Today, the economic powerhouse of Europe — Germany, which is the third largest economy in the world as measured by nominal GDP in trillions of US dollars.
What do you know about the economy of Germany that the rest of us should but probably don’t?
Experts — please chime in. Correct, elaborate, elucidate.
THE LARGEST METROPOLITAN REGION IN GERMANY IS THE RHINE-RUHR — total population 11 million includes Cologne, Dortmund, Dusseldorf, Essen, Duisberg, Dochun, Wupertal, and Bonn
1. This is third largest metropolitan region in Europe after Paris and London.
2. “Historically, most of the Ruhr area was for the most part characterized by heavy industry since the age of industrialisation in the late 19th and early 20th century.”
3. “Since the Middle Ages, Cologne, Dortmund, and other cities were important regional trading cities, but during the 19th century the city of Düsseldorf grew to become the administrative center of the region and since 1945, its political capital.”
NB: “Today, the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region accounts for roughly 15% of the GDP of the German economy.”
THE FINANCIAL CAPITAL OF GERMANY IS FRANKFURT — its metropolitan area population is 5.6 million
1. Frankfurt is the second wealthiest city in Europe (after London).
2. “Frankfurt is culturally, ethnically and religiously diverse, with half of its population, and a majority of its young people, having a migrant background.”
3. Home of the European Central Bank.
NB: Largest city in the state of Hesse, whose capital is Wiesbaden.
THE LARGEST MARKET CAP STOCKS IN GERMANY — from software to insurance and luxury cars
1. SAP (software) $238 billion — “the world’s leading enterprise resource planning (ERP) software vendor.”
2. Siemens (industrial conglomerate, largest in Europe) $145 billion
3. Deuthsche Telekom $124 billion, largest telecom company in Europe by revenue.
NB: Allianz, $109 billion (insurance), Mercedes Benz $74 billion (luxury cars, motto, “The Best or Nothing”) “More than 99 per cent of all German companies belong to the German “Mittelstand” small and medium-sized enterprises, which are mostly family-owned. These companies represent 48% of the global market leaders in their segments, labelled “hidden champions.” Of the world’s 2000 largest publicly listed companies measured by revenue, the Fortune Global 2000, 53 are headquartered in Germany,”
Economy of Germany — Wikipedia
Share of EU GDP by member state 2023 | Statista
List of countries by GDP (nominal) — Wikipedia
Top exporting countries 2023 | Statista
Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region — Wikipedia
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“Make your own Bible. Select and collect all the words and sentences that in all your readings have been to you like the blast of a trumpet.”
- Ralph Waldo Emerson
My spin — then periodically review, re-rank, and exchange your list with those you love. I call this the “Orion Exchange” because seven is about as many as any human can digest at a time. Game?
ATTACHMENTS BELOW:
#1 A graphic guide to justice (9 metaphors on one page).
#2 “39 Songs, Prayers, and Poems: the Keys to the Hearts of Seven Billion People” — Adams House Senior Common Room Presentation, (11/17/20)
NB: Palestine Orion (Decision) — let’s exchange Orions, let’s find Rumi’s field (“Beyond all ideas of right and wrong, there is a field. Meet me there” Rumi, 13 century Persian Sufi mystic)
THE LAST FOUR YEARS OF POSTS ORGANIZED THEMATICALLY INTO FOURTEEN BOOK-LENGTH PDFs:
PDF with headlines — Google Drive
YOUR TURN — Please share:
a.) the coolest thing you learned this week related to business, economics, finance.
b.) the coolest thing you learned in your life related to business, economics, finance.
c.) anything at all related to business, economics, finance.
d.) anything at all
