John Rumm wrote


On 23/09/2014 16:40, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
http://www.spiegel.de/international/...-a-990903.html


"When Fratzscher, the head of the German Institute for Economic
Research, gives a talk these days, he likes to pose a question to his
audience: "Which country is this?" He then describes a place that has
seen less growth than the average among euro-zone countries since the
turn of the millenium, where productivity has only increased slightly
and where two out of three employees earn less today than they did in 2000.

Fratzscher usually doesn't have to wait long before people begin raising
their hands. "Portugal," one person offers; "Italy," says another;
"France," exclaims a third. The economist allows his audience to
continue searching for the right answer, until, with a triumphant smile,
he announces the answer. The country he is looking for, the one with the
weak economic results, is Germany."

Also interesting:

"In May, BASF CEO Kurt Bock announced a new ¤1 billion investment, the
largest in company history, on the American Gulf Coast. In explaining
the decision, the executive noted that natural gas in the United States
costs only a third of what it does in Germany."


It's even cheaper in Saudi.