https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-07-04/germany-h...
[1]https://www.macrotrends.net/countries/USA/united-states/trad...
But computer chips are just a small part, inflation is mainly driven by energy prices right now. Germany's economy is also heavily globalized and any conflicts or reduced global trade will hit the economy pretty hard.
Still, exports totally were just reduced by ~ .5% while imports increased by 2.7%. But these small percentages already create an imbalance.
What? Balanced trade is inherently sustainable. If Germany exported for the last few decades then it is going to import for a few decades at some point. That is how balanced trade works.
not necessarily. A situation like this could easily and quickly spiral out of control. High inflation could wipe out decades of trade surpluses and germany cant even control their own inflation, because its using €, which is controlled by the European Central Bank.
As a german citizen I'm hopeful that its only temporary however and that our economy recovers at least somewhat over the next few years.
why does there have to be balanced trade? I don't believe balanced trade just happens naturally in a free market.
Then from Wikipedia:
> In 2016, Germany recorded the highest trade surplus in the world, worth $310 billion. ...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Germany
So it's not just the magnitude of the trade balance (negative) but the velocity (sharply downward) that should get attention.
The US has run persistent trade deficits (now ~ $50 billion) for years. This brought cheap goods but eviscerated the manufacturing base. You could call it a tradeoff. What the US has going for it though is: (a) the ability to print its own money; (b) the ability to print the world's reserve currency; and (c) the demographics to support a consumption-led economy.
Germany has none of these things going for it. The situation is not sustainable. The article implies that the change is not structural (increased competition from elsewhere, for example), but if it is things could get weird real fast.