1. They have found the right level of balance between social services and economic growth, learned from the experience of a capable civil service that dates back to the time of Frederick II (the "Great") when he ruled Prussia in the 18th Century.
2. German tax laws encourage businesses to keep as much of their operations on German soil as possible. Why do you think German automakers still have most of their assembly lines in Germany?
3. Germans are willing to work hard to economically advance.
In short, if Europe is to solve its sovereign debt crisis, it will likely be done on German terms. Sorry Italy and Greece, all those overly-generous social services and rampant corruption will have to go, like it or not.
You can do a lot if you depend on someone else to provide for your security.
No, there's no "right level of balance" when it comes to that. It's been less than a decade ago that they were called the "sick man of Europe"; and thanks to some very creative interest-rate games at the ECB (which is in Frankfurt), they magically recovered. You don't turn things around that rapidly without playing some kind of shenanigans.
They have found the right level of balance between social services and economic growth
Hold on there. Germany has a social market economy, which stipulates government intervention in putatively private business. There are plenty of other countries around, even within the EU, with more attractive tax regimes; if they don't move there, than that's all due to government interference in Berlin. Also note that those countries within the EU with lower corporate tax regimes are being pressured (mostly by Berlin) to raise those tax levels. Doesn't sound like Berlin wants competition, does it?
German tax laws encourage businesses to keep as much of their operations on German soil as possible. Why do you think German automakers still have most of their assembly lines in Germany?
. . . and they're the only people who are so willing? The "austerity measures" that are being imposed on the rest of the eurozone are projected to cause a lot of job lossesexcept in Germany. I'd say that the much-vilified Greeks would work just as hard as the Germans if they could, even if they had their accustomed government benefits cut by several degrees. That would be more than enough to get them to reject the communists' influence.
Germans are willing to work hard to economically advance