German lesson: Germany's Economy
a report written by Llewelyn Hill

Germany has always been a pioneer in many aspects of daily existence, and this holds true for Economics as well. Germany is one of the founders of the European Union, and the currency they use is Euro. Prior to leaving South Africa, we had to convert our money (ZAR) to Euros and at the time the exchange rate was R13 to €1. As students, it is inevitable that we look at a price tag and convert any items in Germany to ZAR and see whether the price is reasonable or not. More often, products are more expensive than we are used to.
Germany being a more advanced economical nation, they pay you to return your plastic bottles. Sometimes you get more than what you initially paid, a method that serves to be both an economical and environmental gain.
Our lecture by Torsten was extremely insightful, especially as a student of the Economic and Management Sciences faculty. He informed us that new inventions are key to German industries. Important inventions include the steam engine and the locomotive. Important resources are cotton, metal (iron/steel), coal, wood, machines, money, and workers. The automotive industry plays an important role, some of the great car manufacturers all originate from Germany and these are DaimlerChrysler, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen.
Germany has a very established chemical industry due to the need for chemicals in the mining-, textile-, metal-, and paper industries. The country possesses resources such as ammonia, salt, lime, and coal, which facilitates the chemical industry amongst others. The biggest company in the chemical industry is Bayer (which produce insect killers like Doom) and Hoechst.
Germany has a social free-market economy, which over the years improved dramatically. They concentrated a lot on “High Quality” or “Made in Germany” products, which goes hand in hand with comparative advantage. Germany is also one of the biggest export nations, of which cars and car components, plays a pivotal role.
In conclusion, I tremendously enjoyed this seminar and will definitely take what I have learnt back to my South African lecture hall and further engage with my peers on the topic. Thanks for providing this opportunity, when I am old and grey, I will look back at these three weeks with affection.

Llewelyn Hill