EU Update
An article on CNN.com suggests that Germany's employment woes might be entirely their own dang fault.
"Germany's education system, like its economy, was once considered the pride of Europe. Worries about the stagnating economy have recently preoccupied Germans, and now they are realizing their schools are also in trouble. . . .The real wake-up call came last year when an international test of 15-year-olds ranked Germany 21st out of 32 leading industrialized nations in reading, mathematics and science. . . .
[T]ypically, German pupils are home by early afternoon -- after three hours of classes in elementary school and less than five hours at middle and high schools. . . .
Ultimately, the problems in Germany's education system translate to young people poorly prepared for the job market, while companies complain they can't find qualified graduates.
Despite more than 11 percent unemployment, Germany has to attract highly trained immigrant workers to fill an estimated 100,000 high-tech jobs.
What the heck is going on over there? I don't mean to bash on Germany-- I love the nation, its people, its cars and beer-- but I'm just a little surprised that so much is going wrong in a nation that was until recently a powerhouse. (Of course, some of this may well be regional, as NDR pointed out yesterday in the comments. But still...)
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One thing that I have been
One thing that I have been able to confirm is that the FDR uses a different method for determining unemployment numbers. The 10.4% quoted in the original arcticle is unadjusted. Under the US method this number would be 2-2.5% lower, bringing it much closer to US numbers.
There are several good articles over the internet about the rigidity of the German labor market. In short, the German market produces fewer menial jobs (especially in the sevice areas) than the US. There are good and bad sides to this. German workers are less likely to slide down the employment ladder to more demeaning tasks. Unfortunately they will be less likely to find a job to fill short term needs.
About education I cannot speak. I know that the system drives students to overqualification for the jobs that they will eventually take. Lots of jobs require that applicants have a masters degree in order to do things like work in a bank. Employers are very reluctant to look at people who have only completed the equivalent of a bachelors; that degree is almost meaningless.
One other meaningful area of concern for Germans is their military. They feel proud for resisting the US call to invade Iraq, and they believe that time has proven them correct. However, their experiences in Afghanistan have been shocking. When the bus filled with troops blew up, there were many people who wondered why the Bundeswehr was so under supplied (hiring a bus!). German has a strong arms industry--it is one of the leading manufactures of non-nuclear subs--and the people want the Bundeswehr to become more active in peacekeeping, but the Schoeder government is going in a different direction.