Thursday, April 16, 2009

German state corporatism, the bane of right-thinking Anglo-Saxon capitalists, deserves much credit for the relative comfort of Germany.


Constructive Partnership
State subsidies, a plethora of regulations, are hallmarks of the German way, where industry and labor have been forced into a constructive partnership that each side often finds distasteful. It is the government’s strong role in regulating commerce that has saved the German auto industry from itself. Muted capitalism is alive and relatively well.


It is increasingly clear that German state corporatism, the bane of right-thinking Anglo-Saxon capitalists, deserves much credit for the relative comfort of Stuttgart’s citizens, as well as those throughout most of Germany. State corporatism is different from state planning. It eschews nationalization of industries or government-mandated five-year plans for them.