&gt; hardest working individuals<p>Germany is somewhat on the <i>low</i> side in terms of work hours[1]. Their economic gains are from a rather complicated history.<p>I don&#x27;t mean to insult Germany - I think their ranking here is actually a good thing. I&#x27;m glad they have found a way to keep work from taking over their lives.<p>&gt; the only country in Europe who are capable of sustaining themselves.<p>That would be because of the insane class-specific &quot;put option&quot; we call the Euro that was really a disguised bank bailout. German economic policy (be a competitive net-exporter) isn&#x27;t possible is <i>everyone</i> tries to do it. For a much better explanation why Europe is screwed economically, see Mark Blyth&#x27;s (prof. econ. at Brown) talks[2] on the subject, which is much better than my rushed explanation.<p>[1] <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;stats.oecd.org&#x2F;Index.aspx?DataSetCode=ANHRS" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;stats.oecd.org&#x2F;Index.aspx?DataSetCode=ANHRS</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=B6vV8_uQmxs#t=673" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=B6vV8_uQmxs#t=673</a> <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=in5M65566iw" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=in5M65566iw</a>