Posted on 05/05/2014 5:49:19 PM PDT by Olog-hai
Researchers estimate that 25 years of financial support flowing from the former West into East Germany has cost just under €2 trillion ($2.8 trillion).
In a study commissioned by the Welt am Sonntag, economists at the Berlin-based research association SED-Staat added up all transfers to East German states and individuals since reunification to come up with the astronomical figure.
The difference between the social benefits collected by East Germans and their tax contributions made up the bulk of the price tag at about 60-65 percent of the total, the study showed. …
(Excerpt) Read more at thelocal.de ...
Still paying for WW2
The Gross Domestic Product per capita (GDP) of East German states remains stuck at two thirds the rate of the West, according to national statistics office Destatis.
Forty-five years under communist rule will do that to you. Just imagine how screwed up North Korea is after 60 years of totalitarian communism.
Interesting to know that after 25 years and over two trillion euros later, former East German GDP is still only 66% of the West. And not expected to change in the near-future too.
I wonder whether it is the difference in culture that makes such a huge difference here, accentuated by how much less religious the East Germans are.
Or maybe it was more a combination of international market saturation and brain drain that their integration facilitated, that would have kept East Germany trapped in some form of the middle-income trap if not for the generous investments they have received.
The “Wall of the Mind” is still very much there is Germany. East German and West German culture were vastly different....it will take generations to overcome that gap.
Bingo. Eventually the Chinese are going to use reunification as a weapon against the South Koreans because it is likely to take them out as an economic competitor for a couple of decades or more.
just let the chinese have the north. south doesn’t want it. How fast should we pull out?
We can help them with that -- if Mrs. Obama is willing to give up a year of vacation travel.
They were two different countries. The German Democratic Republic was compelled to accept a West German takeover because it was on the verge of economic collapse.
And yes, creating a truly unified German state will take a long time.
Ich bin zwei Trillioner
Obama blew 4 times that amount in 5 years and what did we get for it?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.