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Western EuropeApril 2 2006

The slow road to recovery

Although business confidence is up regarding Germany’s prospects for recovery this year, members of the public and the Mittelstand remain unconvinced. Ben Aris reports.
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Germany is displaying something of a dual personality these days. Ask the average businessman how he feels about the state of the economy and he will smile; ask the average worker and he will stare at his shoes and shuffle his feet.

None of the macroeconomic ailments that ‘the sick man of Europe’ has been suffering from have disappeared, but even before the first Chancellorin, Angela Merkel, was voted into office last year, the economy was showing signs of a recovery. Exports have been booming, company profits are soaring and there are even signs that growth might pick up this year after nearly a decade of inertia.

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