Most of its savings were being invested abroad, and its domestic net investment share was among the lowest of all OECD countries. Under growing pressure to act, Gerhard Schröder’s Social Democratic government decided in 2003 to deprive millions of Germans of their second-tier unemployment insurance, thus paving the way for the creation of a low-wage sector, in turn reducing the rate of inflation.
十年前，德国就像今天的法国，是欧洲病人。它经历了失业率的上升和投资不足。大部分储蓄被投资于国外，国内净投资比例在经合组织国家中垫底。在增长压力下，施罗德的社会民主党政府在2003年决定取消数百万德国人的二等失业救济，从而扫清了形成低工资部门的道路，而这反过来又降低了通胀率。