[Pan_Yan]

Interesting article. Thanks for posting it.

[ut1992]

I agree this is an interesting article. We’re working with a company in Germany that is the same industry mentioned in the article. They tell us that they can’t keep up with demand.

[ClearCase_guy]

Some industries need scale, but I think we'd be better off with more, smaller, decentralized businesses. Industrial as well as agricultural -- not in all cases, of course, but in many cases. The really big companies shop the world for the cheapest resources and the cheapest labor. That's great for the stockholders, but for the national economy it is not so good because it means that jobs leave our shores and much financial activity takes place outside our borders.

Small businesses are the key to a national economy, and I think Obama works hard to punish such businesses.

[Roninf5-1]

The family secret behind the economic boom

NOT listening to Free Traitor Globalists and transferring their manufacturing and industrial base to Red China.

[Moltke]

bfl

[Turbopilot]

I work with several of these companies and their order books are fuller than they’ve ever been. Economic confidence is extremely high in Germany. Also, German companies are willing to invest in technology and generally make capital investments based on who makes the highest quality product. Too many American firms completely ignore productivity and ownership costs. They delay making any capital investment as long as possible, and then buy the cheapest thing they can when they do decide to invest. It usually ends up being a poor investment in the long run, but it looks better on that quarter’s books, which is as far ahead as a lot of people ever think.

[Cronos]

The Mittelstand have inherent strengths, many experts say. Management consultant and author Bernd Venohr told a recent conference in Vienna that they focus on long-term survival and consider themselves part of their local communities, which commands the loyalty of their workers and their suppliers.

Very important. A lot of CEOs are under pressure each quarter. And they prefer to fire experienced people in their 50s as that is good for the short term bottom line, but that is a long term bad policy.