# Why aren't things working better in Europe?

**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-things-working-better-in-europe/592967
**Category:** Great Debates
**Created:** [August 16, 2011, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-things-working-better-in-europe/592967 "2011-08-16T23:16:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 1
**Page:** 3

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### Author: ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)
#### Post date: [August 19, 2011, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-things-working-better-in-europe/592967/41 "2011-08-19T13:27:39Z")

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> [@treis](#):
>
> [United States GDP per capita](http://www.tradingeconomics.com/united-states/gdp-per-capita)  
> [Germany GDP per capita](http://www.tradingeconomics.com/germany/gdp-per-capita)
> 
> As you can see, Germany more or less shrugged off the recent recession. Other northern European countries aren’t as good as Germany, but most of them managed to break even or grow a bit.

A recession is typically defined by negative GDP growth, your chart is not as relevant as:

[This one](http://www.tradingeconomics.com/germany/gdp-growth)

Germany definitely suffered the recession and had negative GDP growth. But your graph doesn’t really accurately reflect that, it almost suggests that Germany did not take a hit to GDP at all during the 2008 global recession–when it in fact did.

Now, in 2005 Germany had an unemployment rate of 12% that was down to 7% by the 2008 recession and then went back up to 9% and has been decreasing since then.

It is definitely accurate to say Germany was better positioned to get through the recession and had a recovery with greater job creation than other countries.

As seen here: [link](http://www.tradingeconomics.com/germany/unemployment-rate)

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