German Finance Minister urges less reliance on trade

Here is a fascinating short interview with the German Finance Minister who argues that Germany’s heavy dependence on international trade - she is the world’s largest exporter of manufactured goods - has left the country vulnerable to global economic shocks.

The article says that “At present, 45% of the country’s earnings comes from international trade” and with global trade set to shrink by ten per cent this year and the German economy on the brink of a contraction of around 6 per cent, the government is keen to find sources of domestic demand to replace the falling volume of exports. When it comes to the recovery phase of the trade cycle, in the short term it is all about demand - the decline in exports has hit jobs not just in the export sectors themselves but also in supply-chain industries.

This video report offers some tentative positive signs for the German economy.