Germany in the next decade
As a "Deutschophile" (if there could be such a word), I have been keeping up with the latest German elections and the forming grand coalition government in Germany.
Future chancellor Angela Merkel, one can hope, is just what Germany needs to break through this time of unsupportable welfare-statism. With an aging and growing non-working population, combined with low birth rates, Germany must break up its bureaucracy and deregulate itself to remain economically relevant on the global stage.
I read an interesting article from the Mises Institute (a very interesting foundation supporting and promoting free market economics), regarding how the minority East German Communist party has played the "swing vote" role in the recent elections, depriving Mrs. Merkel from an outright majority and forcing the grand coalition with the SDP and Gerhard Shroeder.
Read the article here.
After reading the entire article, it's ironic to note that Mrs. Merkel, who finds herself in staunch opposition to the East German Communist party, and is the strongest proponent of free market economics, was born and raised in East Germany. Her father was an idealistic minister who actually immigrated into East Germany from West Germany as the wall was being built.