If you think things in the USA are bad now, wait till after the US
elections. Once the result is in the bag (either for Bush or whoever stands for
the Democrats) economic policy will switch from the present spending spree
(mainly on arms) to cuts in welfare. The present level of indebtedness cannot be
maintained for ever. Sooner or later the capitalists will make the workers pay.
Has British capitalism has finally overcome what used to be called the
British disease: slower growth, higher inflation, continual currency crises
and a falling behind in living standards compared with the US, Europe and
Japan? Growth figures actually disguise a far more diseased system that the
media would like us to see.
The German economy is the largest in Europe. Since the recession of
2001, the German government has been claiming an economic upswing is imminent.
But are these predictions realistic? Christoph Mürdter analyses the real
direction of the German economy.