Germany has a lower unemployment rate than US.

Even with Germany's higher taxes, bigger social programs they still have a lower unemployment rate than the US.

What are the Germans doing right?

 

It is harder and costlier to fire. Think similar to a tax on short term trading, and replace hiring and firing with entry and exit to a trade. the tax reduces trades, and firing from profit maximizing corps (similar to a trader).

 

Cuba has a lower unemployment rate than the US...what are they doing right? Its only 1.6% unemployed there.

Here are some other countries unemployment rates.

Cambodia 3.5%
vietnam 4.4%
Romanian 6.9%

But you know where there are lots of jobs? MEXICO! Unemployment there is only 5.4%

 

What you are forgetting is that Germanys unemployment is calculated using the OECD method, as practiced by the rest of the world. In typical American fashion, you guys use your own stupid method to produce your still alarmingly high 9%. If you use the OECD method you'll see that your unemployment is actually 23%.

 

We have U6 unemployment which is a more accurate calculation. Politicians don't like to talk about it. They always report the "U3" number because it doesn't look as bad.

http://www.bls.gov/lau/stalt.htm

Scroll down to the table. Our national U6 unemployment rate is 16.3%.

Some states, like here in California, are above 20%.

 

The U.S. also grew more and had greater employment and more job creation when it had much higher tax rates. High tax rates are not desirable, but they don't have much to do with job creation one way or the other. The politician's claim that high rates on the wealthy harm job creation is not in agreement with reality. Jobs are related to the strength of an economy, not its tax rates -- up to a point at least. Nor, apparently do strong environmental and industrial safety laws seem to be a hindrance to a strong economy, as Germans are in general highly safety conscious and show great concern for the environment. This again is completely contrary to what some politician's are claiming as they attempt to dismantle the U.S. environmental protection laws. In these respects, the U.S. seems to be moving backwards in comparison with other highly developed and scientifically advanced countries. Witness the push to curtail stem cell research in the U.S., for example.

Germany has:

a. A better educational system with tracking, as the U.S. once had, where the burden to perform is on the students, rather the teachers and schools.

b. more engineers graduated than in the US.

c. better engineered products, and greater commitment to quality.

d. stronger middle class.

e. higher wages.

f. less income discrepancy.

g. no military industrial complex that dictates policy.

and also,

h. Germans no longer waste their assets on war. They spend ~$300/ capita per year on "defense" U.S. spends $4000/capita per year (That figure include vet benefits and interest.)

i. Germany spends far less on medical care for a better outcome, whereas U.S. medical system is structured like a for profit cartel.

j. Germany was bombed into dust and started over. The U.S. is still laboring under an obsolescent 200+ year-old constitution with several irresolvable defects.

k. Germans elected a physicist to lead their country; Americans elected a poorly educated, barely literate, millionaire playboy.

l. Germany has more enlightened drug laws and thus wastes far less prosecuting minor drug crimes. As a result, Germany has a far lower prison population per capita, with a consequent lower tax payer burden for this purpose.

J. Germany has a somewhat functional government, whereas the U.S. government is dysfunctional.

I don't want to suggest that Germany doesn't have problems of their own, or that Germans are any brighter or more capable than anyone else, but nevertheless the U.S. could profit from observing how other countries do things.

 

They don't have a slave problem like the US

 

zee germans- are the no fools-Hitler built an army that defended itself for 7 years against agaisnt British/US/russia- something which bush failed to do in Iraq

 

any 1st world country has lower unemployment rate than the US.

even china has lower unemployment rate than the US.

 

After WWII Germans have stopped poking their noses up the rear ends of other nations.

Since 1990s, US has taken to this 'nice habbit' with fervor and seems to be enjoying it so much that it's 'economic respiratory health' is on the verge of collapse as a result of asphexia (lack of fresh air to breathe).

Lack of fresh air to breathe? This means that US has its whole head and mouth up the rear ends and now it is stuck!