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AccordingtoThe Economist, the German economy is not quite as steady as it is assumed to be. Based on exports of cars and industrial equipment, it is now over-reliant on "its exporters’ success." As the London weekly observes, "global markets are volatile: the country’s current-account surplus has fallen by more than half from a mighty 8% of GDP in just a year." The solution to the industrial giant's problems should be a drive to create better conditions for start-ups and develop the services market — a direction that Germany has always been reluctant to follow.
"In the past decade German firms, unions and politicians have set about making their export economy competitive, with spectacular results. Now the country needs to gear up the domestic economy," recommends *The Economist*. The report goes on to conclude that general elections on 27 September ought to result in a conviction that "it is time to experiment."
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