Daily Archives: August 31, 2010

The exceptionally strong German GDP figures for 2010 Q2 have triggered a lot of commentary on whether Germany has coped better with the recent recession than other countries, especially the US. (See for example this blog and also this one by Paul Krugman, and this analysis in the FT on Monday by Wolfgang Münchau.) But much of this discussion has focused only on the performance of GDP, exports or consumption, where little seems to have changed, and has largely over-looked the performance of the labour market, which has actually been rather remarkable. In the 1950s and 1960s, everyone talked about the German economic miracle. We certainly have not seen that repeated in the last few years, but we have seen a complete overhaul in labour market policy which is now bearing fruit, and which deserves to be more widely recognised.

Gavyn Davies

on macroeconomics

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A blog on macroeconomics, economic policymaking and the financial markets. Gavyn usually writes about a key topic of the week on Sunday.

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Gavyn Davies is a macroeconomist who is now chairman of Fulcrum Asset Management and co-founder of Prisma Capital Partners. He was the head of the global economics department at Goldman Sachs from 1987-2001, and was chairman of the BBC from 2001-2004.

He has also served as an economic policy adviser in No 10 Downing Street, an external adviser to the British Treasury, and as a visiting professor at the London School of Economics.

Gavyn Davies is an active investor and may have financial interests and holdings in any of the topics about which he writes. The views expressed are solely those of Mr Davies and in no way reflect the views of Prisma Capital Partners LP, Fulcrum Asset Management LLP, their respective affiliates or representatives. This material is not intended to provide, and should not be relied upon for, investment advice or recommendations. Readers are urged to seek professional advice before making any investments.

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