Made in Germany by the mittelstand: products from Würth and Tente (bottom), two of the country’s most successful SMEs.

The “Mittelstand” and other reasons for Germany’s robust economy in times of crisis

By Steven Hill

April 12, 2013

As a result of the global economic crisis, Germany’s reputation around the world has undergone a dramatic transformation. On the one hand, the German economic model is praised by world leaders like President Barack Obama and others for its manufacturing and export success, and for the maintenance of its brand of social capitalism in difficult economic times. On the other hand, Germany has taken a lot of criticism lately from those who don’t like its approach to the eurozone debt crisis, accusing it of neglecting regional imbalances that allow Germany to prosper at the expense of European neighbors. Many people increasingly view Germany through both these lenses simultaneously, as a kind of split personality striking a Faustian bargain with the Mephistopheles of its own economic success.

Employees of Cyprus’ Laiki Bank protest outside parliament.

The eurozone questions the survival warranty of major banks

By Hannes Koch

April 12, 2013

Since March 25, Cyprus has stood for two new developments in the politics of European crises. Firstly, both small and large account holders must now expect that they could be forced to contribute to restructuring financial institutions. Second, and at least as important: One of two ailing banks in Cyprus will be liquidated and shut down. For the first time on this scale, the eurozone is resorting to a model first implemented by Iceland in 2008, and something which European bank supervisors had not previously dared to do.

After a six-month lull, the euro crisis returned in March. Both the Bank of Cyprus and the Laiki Bank stood on the verge of bankruptcy: if they had collapsed, the government of Cyprus would have become insolvent. Euro exchange rates slumped and the risk premium for investing in crisis-hit eurozone nations like Italy were starting to rise again.

Future technology: Evonik is developing electric cars like this Lotus.

Chemicals giant Evonik goes public – earning cash both for investors and the post-mining cleanup

By Wolfgang Mulke

April 12, 2013

The Ruhr Valley, known to its inhabitants simply as “the pot,” was the launching pad for West Germany’s economic miracle after World War II. Thousands of miners worked deep underground, extracting black coal from narrow seams to fuel the industries above. Coal was the wealth of the region, in which today only a few cities are known internationally – either because of soccer clubs like Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04 or because of the heavy industry founded by the Krupp and Thyssen families.

Coal and steel from the Ruhr Valley have not been economical for decades. First there was cheap imported coal, then nuclear power – and now there are renewable energies. The Ruhr area has long been a depressed region in western Germany.

White mice are now protected from use in cosmetics trials in Europe.

Cosmetics tested on animals are now banned in the EU. Research continues into alternate testing methods for other fields

By Manfred Ronzheimer

April 12, 2013

On March 11 of this year, a ban took effect across the European Union on the sale of any personal care products tested on animals. The ban applies not only to cosmetics produced in Europe; it also prohibits the import and sale of products, or any ingredient in a product, that has been tested on animals anywhere in the world.

The German Society for the Protection of Animals called the ban “a great victory for all animal welfare activists.” The complete ban came after decades of lobbying and counter-lobbying on partial bans, as well as the search for alternatives to animal testing, a research field in which Germany leads the pack.