Economy of Long Island

Long Island's commuter towns are well known for supplying skilled labor to more urban places, but its four counties have their own factories, offices, schools and other workplaces, employing more workers than commute to distant jobs.

Affluence

The counties of Nassau and Suffolk have long been renowned for their affluence and high standard of living. This affluence is especially pervasive among the hamlets and villages on the North Shore of Long Island, the extreme eastern South Shore (home to the Hamptons) and several wealthy pockets along the South Shore further west. However, nearly all of Long Island (especially Nassau County and western Suffolk County) is quite expensive to live on by national standards.

Long Island is home to some of the most expensive mansions in the country. In 2005, the most expensive residence in the country was Three Ponds in Bridgehampton.Several of the nation's largest private residences are also on Long Island, including financier Ira Rennert's, Fair Field, in the Hampton's hamlet of Sagaponack and the country's second largest home, Oheka Castle. Long Island is home to the luxury communities of the Hamptons, Cold Spring Harbor and Lloyd Harbor in Suffolk County, and Hewlett Bay Park, Cove Neck, Oyster Bay Cove, Laurel Hollow, Sands Point, Roslyn, Glen Head, Brookville, Old Brookville, Upper Brookville, Muttontown, Syosset, Woodbury, Jericho, Massapequa, Garden City, Hewlett Harbor, and Manhasset in Nassau County.

Aviation industry

Long Island industry has long benefited from its proximity to New York City. During the 1930s, the island developed an aviation industry, and until about 1990 was considered one of the aviation centers of the United States, with companies such as Grumman Aircraft having their headquarters and factories in the Bethpage area. Grumman was long a major supplier of warplanes for the U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps, as seen in many movies. Prominent WW-II Grumman aircraft included the F4F Wildcat and F6F Hellcat fighters, and the TBF Avenger bomber. Grumman was also prominent in the US space program, being the producer of the Apollo Lunar Excursion Module.

In their early decades, aerospace-related companies were concentrated on Long Island, especially in eastern Nassau County in the Bethpage area. Over the years, the industry also diversified to other locations. The Sperry Gyroscope company did very well during WW-II as military demand skyrocketed; it specialized in high technology devices such as gyrocompasses, analog computer-controlled bombsights, airborne radar systems, and automated take-off and landing systems. These became jumping-off points into the multibillion-dollar annually avionics business. During the Cold War decade of the 1950s, part of Sperry Gyroscope was moved to Phoenix, Arizona. This was to try to preserve parts of this vital defense company in the event of nuclear warfare. Both on Long Island and in Arizona, Sperry continued to excel in avionics, and it also provided avionics systems for such NASA programs as the Space Shuttle.

The Cradle of Aviation Museum illustrates and celebrates Long Island aviation.

Science and engineering

Long Island has played a prominent role in scientific research and in engineering. It was the home of the Grumman Aircraft factories where all the Apollo program Lunar Module spacecraft were built; and it still is the home of the Brookhaven National Laboratories in nuclear physics and Department of Energy research. All of this makes Long Island one of the leading high-technology areas in the world.

Late in the 20th century companies such as Sperry Rand and Computer Associates, headquartered in Islandia, made Long Island a center for the computer industry. Gentiva Health Services, a national provider of home health and pharmacy services, also is headquartered in Long Island.

Long Island was home to the first Trans-Atlantic radio broadcast, from Rocky Point, New York to Paris, France.

Agriculture

Long Island, NY is rich in farming history and features many produce farms located on both the North Shore and South Shores. Because the western and central regions of the island are now largely devoted to residential use, the East End of the island is now the primary agricultural area of Long Island.

East End farms and farmers' markets are the major providers of Long Island's remaining supplies of locally grown fruits, berries, vegetables, poultry, and dairy products. Some farms offer pick-your-own peaches, apples, and pumpkins. This has become a traditional spring, summer, and fall outing for many Long Island residents.  The island also still has a considerable area and resources even in Nassau County devoted to landscaping horticulture.

Long Island wine

In little over quarter of a century the Long Island wine industry has grown from one vineyard to 3,000 acres (12 km2) of vines in thirty wineries. The island's maritime climate, geography and soil characteristics provide good winegrowing conditions.

The Long Island wine region formally encompasses all of Nassau County and Suffolk County, but most island vineyards are located on the North and South Forks. Some of the vineyards can grow Euopean varietal grapes, while others concentrate on hybrid grapes that are better-adapted to North American conditions of climate and pest resistance.

News and media

Long Island is the home of several newspapers and radio stations. Newsday has one of the largest circulations of all U.S. daily newspapers. The Long Island Press is a weekly paper begun in 2003. There are a few specialty newspapers such as the Long Island Business News and there are several weeklies that cover smaller community news and current events in the Long Island Communities. News 12, owned and operated by Cablevision System Corp, is one of the primary Long Island TV cable news channels.

Long Island Radio Stations

WALK-FM, 97.5 WBAB-FM 102.3 WBLI-FM, 106.1 WBZO-FM, 103.1 WLIR-FM, 107.1 WHLI-AM, 1100 WKJY-FM, 98.3 WKWZ-FM, 88.5

Tourism

Tourism thrives primarily in the summer and on the East End because of the natural beauty, parks and beaches in Long Island. The North fork on the east end of Suffolk County is known for fishing villages, quaint towns, ferries to Connecticut and other neighbors, and for wineries. The South fork has similar tourist attractions including golf, equestrian, boating, surfing, and fine dining in the Hamptons and Montauk. Patchogue is also host to the Patchogue Theatre for the Performing Arts, which is also the official home theater of the Atlantic Wind Symphony.

Sunrise in Quogue.

Villages are significant additional tourist attraction for the Island. Some tourism is local Long Islanders simply visiting nearby friendly villages. Examples of well developed villages that attract surrounding communities are Huntington Village, Northport Village, Islip Hamlet, Port Jefferson Village, Sayville, & Cold Spring Harbor in Suffolk County. Roslyn Village, Great Neck, The City of Long Beach, The City of Glen Cove, Massapequa Park and Rockville Centre, Garden City are popular Nassau County Villages. The Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau provides information about tourism on Long Island.

Other industries

Fishing continues to be an important industry, especially at Northport and Montauk.

Since World War II, Long Island has become increasingly suburban and, in some areas, fully urbanized. Levittown was only the first of many new suburbs, and businesses followed residential development eastward.

Long Island is home to the East Coast's largest industrial park, the Hauppauge Industrial Park. The park has over 1,300 companies, and employs over 55,000 Long Islanders. Companies in the park and abroad are represented by the Hauppauge Industrial Association.

A growing entertainment industry presence can also be found on the Island. Most recently producer Mitchell Kriegman established Wainscott Studios in Water Mill where the PBS children's show, “It's a Big Big World”, is shot.

See also

Economy of the United States

(source:wikipedia)

Young Portuguese go abroad as bailout looms

Alexandria Silva, a marketing student aged 20, admitted that she didn't understand the technicalities of the financial storm heading for Portugal, or why the economy was in such a mess.

But she did have a pretty good idea of how she would cope with the crisis.

"I will get out as soon as I graduate next year, to Brazil," she said. "It has a growing economy and people like me can do well there." She was returning from her lectures, walking along Lisbon's most fashionable shopping street past posters for last Wednesday's mass general strike. Unions said that around three million stopped work to protest painful government spending cuts, the biggest action of its kind since the 1980s.

If they stay at home in this kind of economic environment, many young Portuguese have concluded, they will not succeed in life. The economy is stagnant - the nation has been called the Sick Man of Europe – the older generation have a stranglehold on good jobs, and the future looks bleak.

With unemployment at 11 per cent, opportunity is something to seek abroad, and their parents don't blame them.

Now, public spending is being slashed back in a way not seen for a generation, with a socialist government desperately trying to stop Portugal falling as the next domino in the euro crisis. José Sócrates, the prime minister, insisted last week that a bailout would not happen, much as Ireland's leaders did in the days before their own financial rescue.

He may just cut spending enough to stave off an Irish-style humiliation, but most analysts doubt it. With markets sensing weakness and threatening to force up the price of its borrowing, in the next few weeks Portugal may have no choice but take a bailout of around €50 billion from the EU and IMF, possibly twice as much. If it does, the economy could be buried even deeper in a hole it is too feeble to crawl out of, and its people will be even more demoralised than they are now.

The prospects for young people were bad even before their current economic woes. Their parents enjoy job security which makes them almost unsackable no matter how little work they do, especially in the bloated public sector.

Many public servants are paid for a 14 month year – with extra month's pay at Christmas and in summer. Senior public servants get cars and drivers, whether they want them or not.

The young, who entered the workforce when perks and safe jobs had come to an end, must struggle through on short-term contracts and bad pay. So many of the best-educated and brightest depart – and Portugal loses the energetic, skilled people it desperately needs. Ines Grasina, 18, a friend of Miss Silva, said she would also leave when she graduates, probably for London.

"I think a lot people are leaving Portugal to find jobs," said Ines Lamas, 25, a travel agent. "A friend of mine has just left to try to set up a restaurant in Mozambique. The debt problem here is getting worse. Things don't look good at all."

Portugal has always had large-scale emigration – around three million live abroad and ten million at home – but in the past it was the working class and villagers who left for a better life, not the skilled and well-educated.

Lack of competitiveness is at the heart of Portugal's economic problems, bemoaned by everybody from heads of industry to café owners. Unlike Greece, the nation's finances have been fairly well run. Unlike the Irish, the Portuguese are not in a mess because of the bursting of an unsustainable boom.

Their problem is that their economy has just limped along for the past decade as the rest of Europe prospered, stifled by overregulation and not helped by an inefficient public sector.

Most Portuguese are fiercely loyal both to the European Union, which spent lavishly on their infrastructure, and the euro, which they credit with bringing financial stability since they joined in 1999. They took out cheap loans to pay for cars and nice homes which previous generations couldn't have dreamt of owning.

But the euro has been blamed for making their crucial textile and footwear export industries uncompetitive, with much of the business disappearing to Asia. And since the crisis first struck in 2007 tourism, another mainstay, has taken a battering because of the strong euro. The British have preferred to spend their holidays in the sun in cheaper countries and the Irish, big spenders a few years ago, have vanished from the Algarve. They are even more bust than the Portuguese.

"Business is very bad," said Antonio Sousa, proprietor of Lisbon's oldest café, the Martinho Da Arcada, founded in 1782 and famous for its custard tarts sprinkled with cinnamon. Between pouring glasses of port for American tourists and serving milky coffee to off-duty police officers who had just held a demonstration against spending cuts, he complained about the Portuguese work ethic and a state that was too big.

"The Portuguese are entrepreneurs all over the world, but not here at home," he said. "Millions rely on the state. It is no wonder young people want to go to Brazil – that's the future if you have energy. Here people just expect to be mollycoddled."

That may be true for those in a safe public sector job, but for those on the bottom life is now much harder. "I lost my job as an accounts clerk eight years ago and it has been impossible to find a new one," said Anna Duarte, a middle-aged woman who had just eaten dinner at one of Lisbon's many soup kitchens, now relied on by an estimated 200,000. She still looked presentable, unlike the tramps and alcoholics stumbling past her.

"I had to summon up the courage to come here first a year ago, when the dining hall was half empty. Now it is nearly full every night and many of the people are like me. It's bad now and I'm really worried about what the future will be like." A bailout will do little to help people like her. With market pressure building, on Friday the European Commission had to deny that it was encouraging Portugal to take billions to calm markets and stop the contagion.

If no cure is found, the next place for contagion will be Portugal's neighbour Spain, with economic problems similar to Portugal's and in some ways worse, and a much bigger economy - the fifth-biggest in the EU. If the contagion spreads across Portugal's border it could be terminal to the single currency.

(source:telegraph.co.uk)

Economy of Sweden

The Swedish economy is a developed diverse economy, aided by timber and iron ore. These constitute the resource base of an economy oriented toward foreign trade. The main industries include cars, international communications, pharmaceuticals and forestry.

Because Sweden is in fact a neutral country; during the post world war 2, Sweden did not have to rebuild their economic base, banking system, and country as a whole. Sweden has achieved second to none standard of living, under a mixed system of high-tech markets and welfare benefits. Sweden has the second highest total tax revenue behind Denmark, as a share of the country's income. As of 2007, total tax revenue was 47.8% of GDP, down from 49.1% 2006.

History

In the 19th century Sweden evolved from a largely agricultural economy into the beginnings of an industrialized, urbanized country. Poverty was still widespread in sections of the population. However, incomes were sufficiently high to finance emigration to distant places, prompting a large portion of the country to leave, especially to the USA.

Economic reforms and the creation of a modern economic system, banks and corporations were enacted during the latter half of the 19th century. By the 1930s, Sweden had one of Europe's highest standards of living. Sweden declared itself neutral during both world wars, thereby avoiding much physical destruction like several other neutral countries.

The post-war boom propelled Sweden to greater economic prosperity, putting the country in third place in per capita GDP rankings by 1970. Beginning in the 1970s and culminating with the deep recession of the early 1990s, Swedish standards of living developed less favorably than many other industrialized countries. Since the mid 1990s the economic performance has improved.

In 2006, Sweden had the world's ninth highest GDP per capita in nominal terms and was in 14th place in PPP terms (2009 figures).

Crisis of the 1990s

Sweden has had a unique economic model in the post-World War II era, characterized by close cooperation between the government, labour unions and corporations. The Swedish economy has extensive and universal social benefits funded by high taxes, close to 50% of GDP. In the 1980s, a real estate and financial bubble formed, driven by a rapid increase in lending. A restructuring of the tax system, in order to emphasize low inflation combined with an international economic slowdown in the early 1990s, caused the bubble to burst. Between 1990 and 1993 GDP went down by 5% and unemployment skyrocketed, causing the worst economic crisis in Sweden since the 1930s. In 1992 there was a run on the currency, the central bank briefly jacking up interest to 500% in an unsuccessful effort to defend the currency's fixed exchange rate.

 Total employment fell by almost 10% during the crisis.

A real estate boom ended in a bust. The government took over nearly a quarter of banking assets at a cost of about 4% of the nation's GDP. This was known colloquially, as the "Stockholm Solution". The United States Federal Reserve remarked in 2007, that "In the early 1970s, Sweden had one of the highest income levels in Europe; today, its lead has all but disappeared... So, even well-managed financial crises don't really have a happy ending."

The welfare system that had been growing rapidly since the 1970s couldn't be sustained with a falling GDP, lower employment and larger welfare payments. In 1994 the government budget deficit exceeded 15% of GDP. The response of the government was to cut spending and institute a multitude of reforms to improve Sweden's competitiveness. When the international economic outlook improved combined with a rapid growth in the IT sector, which Sweden was well positioned to capitalize on, the country was able to emerge from the crisis

The crisis of the 1990s was by some viewed as the end of the much buzzed welfare model called "Svenska modellen", literally The Swedish Model, as it proved that governmental spending at the levels previously experienced in Sweden was not long term sustainable. Much of the Swedish Model's acclaimed advantages actually had to be viewed as a result of the post WWII special situation, which left Sweden untouched when competitors' economies were in pieces.

However, the reforms enacted during the 1990s seem to have created a model in which extensive welfare benefits can be maintained in a global economy.

Contemporary economy

Real GDP growth in Sweden 1996-2006.

Sweden is an export-oriented mixed economy featuring a modern distribution system, excellent internal and external communications, and a skilled labor force. Timber, hydropower and iron ore constitute the resource base of an economy heavily oriented toward foreign trade. Sweden's engineering sector accounts for 50% of output and exports. Telecommunications, the automotive industry and the pharmaceutical industries are also of great importance. Agriculture accounts for 2 percent of GDP and employment.

The 20 largest Sweden-registered companies by turnover in 2007 were Volvo, Ericsson, Vattenfall, Skanska, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB, Svenska Cellulosa Aktiebolaget, Electrolux, Volvo Personvagnar, TeliaSonera, Sandvik, Scania, ICA, Hennes & Mauritz, Nordea, Preem, Atlas Copco, Securitas, Nordstjernan and SKF. Sweden's industry is overwhelmingly in private control; unlike some other industrialized Western countries, such as Austria and Italy, state owned enterprises were always of minor importance.

Some 4.5 million residents are working, out of which around a third with tertiary education. GDP per hour worked is the world's 9th highest at 31 USD in 2006, compared to 22 USD in Spain and 35 USD in United States. According to OECD, deregulation, globalization, and technology sector growth have been key productivity drivers. GDP per hour worked is growing 2½ per cent a year for the economy as a whole and trade-terms-balanced productivity growth 2%. Sweden is a world leader in privatized pensions and pension funding problems are small compared to many other Western European countries. Swedish labor market has become more flexible, but it still has some widely acknowledged problems. The typical worker receives only 40% of his income after the tax wedge. The slowly declining overall taxation, 51.1% of GDP in 2007, is still nearly double of that in the United States or Ireland. Civil servants amount to a third of Swedish workforce, multiple times the proportion in many other countries. Overall, GDP growth has been fast since reforms in the early 1990s, especially in manufacturing.

World Economic Forum 2008 competitiveness index ranks Sweden 4th most competitive, behind Denmark. The Index of Economic Freedom 2008 ranks Sweden the 27th most free out of 162 countries, or 14th out of 41 European countries. Sweden ranked 9th in the IMD Competitiveness Yearbook 2008, scoring high in private sector efficiency. According to the book, The Flight of the Creative Class, by the U.S. urban studies, Professor Richard Florida of University of Toronto, Sweden is ranked as having the best creativity in Europe for business and is predicted to become a talent magnet for the world’s most purposeful workers. The book compiled an index to measure the kind of creativity it claims is most useful to business — talent, technology and tolerance.Sweden's investment into research and development stood, in 2007, at over 3.5% of GDP. This is considerably higher than that of a number of MEDCs, including the United States, and is the largest among the OECD members.

Sweden rejected the Euro in a referendum in 2003, and Sweden maintains its own currency, the Swedish krona (SEK). The Swedish Riksbank—founded in 1668 and thus making it the oldest central bank in the world—is currently focusing on price stability with its inflation target of 2%. According to Economic Survey of Sweden 2007 by OECD, the average inflation in Sweden has been one of the lowest among European countries since the mid-1990s, largely because of deregulation and quick utilization of globalization.

The largest trade flows are with Germany, United States, Norway, United Kingdom, Denmark and Finland.

The Swedish economic picture has brightened significantly since the severe recession in the early 1990s. Growth has been strong in recent years, and even though the growth in the economy slackened between 2001 and 2003, the growth rate has picked up since with an average growth rate of 3.7% in the last three years. The long-run prospects for growth remain favorable. The inflation rate is low and stable, with projections for continued low levels over the next 2–3 years.

Since the mid-1990s the export sector has been booming, acting as the main engine for economic growth. Swedish exports also have proven to be surprisingly robust. A marked shift in the structure of the exports, where services, the IT industry, and telecommunications have taken over from traditional industries such as steel, paper and pulp, has made the Swedish export sector less vulnerable to international fluctuations. However, at the same time the Swedish industry has received less money for its exports while the import prices have gone up. During the period 1995-2003 the export prices were reduced by 4% at the same time as the import prices climbed by 11%. The net effect is that the Swedish terms-of-trade fell 13%.

Government

The government budget has improved dramatically from a record deficit of more than 12% of GDP in 1993. In the last decade, from 1998 to present, the government has run a surplus every year, except for 2003 and 2004. The surplus for 2007 is expected to be 138 billion ($20b) kronor. The new, strict budget process with spending ceilings set by parliament, and a constitutional change to an independent Central Bank, have greatly improved policy credibility. This can be seen in the long-term interest rate margin versus the Euro, which is negligible.

From the perspective of longer term fiscal sustainability, the long-awaited reform of old-age pensions entered into force in 1999. This entails a far more robust system vis-à-vis adverse demographic and economic trends, which should keep the ratio of total pension disbursements to the aggregate wage bill close to 20% in the decades ahead. Taken together, both fiscal consolidation and pension reform have brought public finances back on a sustainable footing. Gross public debt, which jumped from 43% of GDP in 1990 to 78% in 1994, stabilised around the middle of the 1990s and started to come down again more significantly beginning in 1999. In 2000 it fell below the key level of 60% and had declined to a level of 37% of GDP as of 2007.

Economic and monetary union

Current economic development reflects a quite remarkable improvement of the Swedish economy since the crisis in 1991-93, so that Sweden could easily qualify for membership in the third phase of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union, adopting the euro as its currency. In theory, by the rules of the EMU, Sweden is obliged to join, since the country has not obtained exception by any protocol or treaty (as opposed to Denmark and the United Kingdom). Nevertheless, the Swedish government decided in 1997 against joining the common currency from its start on 1 January 1999. This choice was implemented by exploiting a legal loophole, deliberately staying out of the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. This move is currently tolerated by the European Central Bank, which however has warned that this wouldn't be the case for newer EU members.

In the first years of the twenty-first century, a majority for joining emerged in the governing Social Democratic party, although the question was subject of heated debate, with leading personalities in the party on both sides. On 14 September 2003, a national referendum was held on the euro. A 56% majority of Swedes rejected the common currency, while 42% voted in favour of it. Currently no plans for a new referendum or parliamentary vote on the matter are being discussed, though it has been implied that another referendum may take place in around ten years.

Unemployment

In contrast with most other European countries, Sweden maintained an unemployment rate around 2% or 3% of the work force throughout the 1980s.[citation needed] This was, however, accompanied by high and accelerating inflation. It became evident that such low unemployment rates were not sustainable, and in the severe crisis of the early 1990s the rate increased to more than 8%. In 1996 the government set out a goal of reducing unemployment to 4% by 2000. During 2000 employment rose by 90,000 people, the greatest increase in 40 years, and the goal was reached in the autumn of 2000. The same autumn the government set out its new target: that 80% of the working age population will have a regular job by 2004. Some have expressed concern that meeting the employment target may come at a cost of too high a rate of wage increases hence increasing inflation. However, as of August 2006, roughly 5% of working age Swedes were unemployed, over the government-established goal. However, some of the people who cannot find work are put away in so-called "labour market political activities", referred to as "AMS-åtgärder".

According to Jan Edling, a former trade-unionist, the actual number of unemployed is far higher, and those figures are being suppressed by both the government and the Swedish Trade Union Confederation. In Edling's report he added that a further 3% of Swedes were occupied in state-organised job schemes, not in the private sector. He also claimed a further 700,000 Swedes are either on long-term sick leave or in early retirement. Edling asks how many of these people are in fact unemployed. According to his report, the "actual unemployment" rate hovers near 20%.= Some critics disagree with this concept of "actual" unemployment, also termed "broad unemployment", since they do not see e.g. students who rather want a job, people on sick leave and military conscripts as "unemployed".=

According to Swedish Statistics, unemployment in May 2009 was 9% in the general population and 30% amongst 15-25 years old.

Trade unions

Around eighty percent of the Swedish labour force is unionised. For most unions there is a counterpart employer's organization for businesses. The unions and employer organisations are independent of both the government and political parties, although the largest confederation of unions, the National Swedish Confederation of Trade Unions or LO (organising blue-collar workers), maintains close links to the largest political party, the Social Democrats. So close that after the election in 2006 and the resignation of the party leader Göran Persson, one of the strongest candidates for new party leader (and their candidate as Prime Minister) was the LO chairman Wanja Lundby-Wedin.

The unionisation rate among white-collar workers is exceptionally high in Sweden - almost as high as for blue-collar workers. There are two major confederations that organise professionals and other qualified employees: the Swedish Confederation of Professional Employees (Tjänstemännens Centralorganisation or TCO) and the Swedish Confederation of Professional Associations (Sveriges Akademikers Centralorganisation or SACO). They are both independent from Sweden's political parties and never endorse candidates for office in political elections.

There is no minimum wage that is required by legislation. Instead, minimum wage standards in different sectors are normally set by collective bargaining. Most labour contracts were re-negotiated during 2004, and call for wage increases of around seven percent over a three-year period.

Labor force

The traditionally low-wage differential has increased in recent years as a result of increased flexibility as the role of wage setting at the company level has strengthened somewhat. Still, Swedish unskilled employees are well-paid while well-educated Swedish employees are low-paid compared to those in competitor countries in Western Europe and USA. The average increases in real wages in recent years have been high by historical standards, in large part due to unforeseen price stability. Even so, nominal wages in recent years have been slightly above those in competitor countries. Thus, while private-sector wages rose by an average annual rate of 3.75% from 1998 to 2000 in Sweden, the comparable increase for the EU area was 1.75%. In the year 2000 the total labour force was around 4.4 million people.

Ongoing privatisations

The Swedish government has announced that it will privatise a number of wholly and partly state owned companies. "The income from these sales will be used to pay off the government debt and reduce the burden of debt for future generations. The Government's ambition is to sell companies to a value of SEK 200 billion during 2007-2010."

Apoteket - pharmaceuticals. To be partially sold when breaking up the state monopoly and opening the market to free competition. 

Nordea - bank. 19.5% owned by Swedish government.

OMX - stock exchange. Shares sold to Borse Dubai for 2.1 billion SEK.

Telia Sonera - telecom. 37.3% owned by the Swedish government. Hitherto SEK 18 billion worth of shares has been sold reducing state ownership from 45.3% to 37.3%.

SBAB - finance.

Vin & Sprit. Sold to Pernod Ricard for 5.626 billion Euro.

Vasakronan. Sold to AP-fastigheter for 4.3 billion Euro.

Gross regional product

Gross Regional Product per capita in thousands of Swedish crowns (2004)

The gross regional product differs from a top of 363 000 SEK in the capital Stockholm County, where much of the economic activity is centered, to 202 000 SEK in Södermanland County, with an average of 263 000 SEK for the whole country.

The extra regional figure refers to parts of the economic territory which cannot be attached directly to a single region, e.g. embassies and consulates.

Table showing GRP per capita

Rank County Total¹ Per capita² Share

1 Stockholm County 669 900 363 000 28.54%

2 Västra Götaland County 386 538 257 000 16.47%

3 Västernorrland County 61 540 251 000 2.62%

4 Kronoberg County 43 256 245 000 1.84%

5 Skåne County 278 254 244 000 11.85%

6 Jönköping County 79 761 243 000 3.40%

jt. 7 Östergötland County 97 387 236 000 4.15%

jt. 7 Norrbotten County 59 875 236 000 2.55%

9 Uppsala County 69 631 234 000 2.97%

10 Västmanland County 60 287 233 000 2.57%

11 Blekinge County 34 566 231 000 1.47%

12 Kalmar County 53 381 227 000 2.27%

13 Dalarna County 62 604 226 000 2.67%

14 Örebro County 61 203 224 000 2.61%

15 Halland County 61 339 221 000 2.61%

jt. 16 Gävleborg County 60 417 218 000 2.57%

jt. 16 Västerbotten County 55 534 218 000 2.37%

18 Värmland County 59 497 217 000 2.53%

19 Jämtland County 27 628 215 000 1.18%

20 Gotland County 12 154 212 000 0.52%

21 Södermanland County 52 235 202 000 2.23%

Extra regional 413 0.02%

Total 2 347 400 263 000 100.00%

1/ Million SEK

2/ SEK

Source: Statistics Sweden (2004)

(source:wikipedia)

Economy of Germany

Germany is the largest national economy in Europe, the fourth-largest by nominal GDP in the world, and fifth by GDP (PPP) in 2008. Since the age of industrialisation, the country has been a driver, innovator, and beneficiary of an ever more globalised economy. Germany is the world's second largest exporter with $1.120 trillion exported in 2009 (Eurozone countries are included). Exports account for more than one-third of national output.

Germany is relatively poor in raw materials. Only lignite and potash salt are available in economically significant quantities. Power plants burning lignite are one of the main sources of electricity in Germany. Oil, natural gas and other resources are, for the most part, imported from other countries. Germany imports about two thirds of its energy.

The service sector contributes around 70% of the total GDP, industry 29.1%, and agriculture 0.9%. Most of the country's products are in engineering, especially in automobiles, machinery, metals, and chemical goods. Germany is the leading producer of wind turbines and solar power technology in the world. The largest annual international trade fairs and congresses are held in several German cities such as Hanover, Frankfurt, and Berlin.

Of the world's 500 largest stock market listed companies measured by revenue, the Fortune Global 500, 37 are headquartered in Germany. In 2010 the ten largest were Volkswagen, Allianz, E.ON, Daimler, Siemens, Metro, Deutsche Telekom, Munich Re, BASF, and BMW. Other large German companies include: Robert Bosch, Thyssen Krupp, and MAN (diversified industrials); Bayer and Merck (pharmaceuticals); Adidas and Puma (clothing and footwear); Commerzbank and Deutsche Bank (banking and finance); Aldi, Lidl and Edeka (retail); SAP (computer software); Infineon (semiconductors); Henkel (household and personal consumer products); Deutsche Post (logistics); and Hugo Boss (luxury goods). Well known global brands are Mercedes Benz, BMW, Adidas, Audi, Porsche, Volkswagen, DHL, T-Mobile, Lufthansa, SAP, and Nivea.

As of September 2008, as measured by ILO standards the German unemployment rate was 6.2 percent (compared with 7.4 percent as measured by German standards).

History

 Economic history of Germany

Nazi Era

Economy of Nazi Germany

The economy of Germany during the Hitler era (1933 – 1945) developed a hothouse prosperity, supported with high government subsidies to those sectors that Hitler favored because they gave Nazi Germany military power and economic autarky, that is, economic independence from the global economy.

Adolf Hitler, believing that "the economy is something of secondary importance", left the details of the economic National Socialist Programme out of Mein Kampf. The Nazis rose to power while unemployment was very high, but achieved full employment later thanks to massive rearmament. Their pre-war economic policies, resembling Keynesianism, were in the beginning the brainchildren of their non-Nazi Minister of Economics, Hjalmar Schacht, who was later made to focus more on war production (cf: Military Keynesianism), and was eventually replaced by a Nazi, Hermann Göring.

The trading policies of the Third Reich aimed at discouraging trade with countries outside the German sphere of influence, while making southern Europe largely dependent on Germany. Eventually, the Nazi party developed strong relationships with big business and abolished trade unions while real wages dropped by a fourth, and employees could not easily change employer. Taxes, though, were still low well into the war. Already before the war, people undesirable to the regime were used as slave labour, and in 1944 they reached one quarter of the workers. Some have argued that the Second World War was a direct effect of the German economic system, which made expansionism necessary for domestic prosperity, indeed, survival; and which made Jingoism necessary for the quelling of class conflicts.

Wirtschaftswunder of the West

 Wirtschaftswunder

Beginning with the replacement of the Reichsmark with the Deutsche Mark as legal tender, a lasting period of low inflation and rapid industrial growth was overseen by the government led by German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and his minister of economics, Ludwig Erhard, raising West Germany from total wartime devastation to one of the most developed nations in modern Europe.

Contrary to popular belief, the Marshall Plan, which was extended to also include Western Germany after it was realized that the suppression of the Western German economy was holding back the recovery of the rest of Europe, was not the main force behind the Wirtschaftswunder. The amount of monetary aid (which was in the form of loans) received by Germany through the Marshall Plan (about $1.65 billion in total) was far overshadowed by the amount the Germans had to pay back as war reparations and by the charges the Allies made on the Germans for the ongoing cost of occupation (about $2.4 billion per year). In 1953 it was decided that Germany was to repay $1.1 billion of the aid it had received. The last repayment was made in June 1971.

Apart from these factors, hard work and long hours at full capacity among the population in the 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s and extra labour supplied by thousands of Gastarbeiter ("guest workers") provided a vital base for the economic upturn.

East Germany

Economy of the German Democratic Republic

The Trabant was the most common car manufactured in the GDR.

By the early 1950s the Soviet Union had seized reparations in form of agricultural and industrial products and demanded further heavy reparation payments. Lower Silesia, which contained coal mines, and Stettin, a prominent natural port, were lost to Poland.

Exports from West Germany exceeded $323 billion in 1988. In the same year, East Germany exported $30.7 billion of goods; 65% to other communist states. East Germany had zero unemployment.

In 1976 average annual GDP growth was roughly 5.9%.

[edit]Post-reunification

The German economy practically stagnated in the beginning of the 2000s. The worst growth figures were achieved in 2002 (+1.4%), in 2003 (+1.0%) and in 2005 (+1.4%). Unemployment was also chronically high. Due to these problems, together with Germany's aging population, the welfare system came under a lot of strain. This led the government to push through a wide-ranging programme of belt-tightening reforms, Agenda 2010, including the labour market reforms known as Hartz I - IV. In the latter part of the first decade of 2000 the world economy experienced high growth, from which Germany as a leading exporter also profited. Some attribute the Hartz reforms to the high German growth and declining unemployment, while others contend that it resulted in a massive decrease in standards of living, and that its effects are limited and temporary. This prediction appeared to have come true with the onset of the late 2000s recession, which hit Germany especially hard.

2008–2009 recession

The nominal GDP of Germany contracted in the second and third quarters of 2008, putting the country in a technical recession following a global and European recession cycle. German industrial output dropped to 3.6% in September vis-a-vis August. In January 2009 the German government under Angela Merkel approved a €50 billion ($70 billion) economic stimulus plan to protect several sectors from a downturn and a subsequent rise in unemployment rates.

Germany exited the recession in the second and third quarters of 2009, mostly due to rebounding manufacturing orders and exports - primarily from outside the Euro Zone - and relatively steady consumer demand.

The following table lists the non-seasonally adjusted GDP growth in 1992-2009.

	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999
GDP	€1646.62 bn	€1694.37 bn	€1780.78 bn	€1848.45 bn	€1878.18 bn	€1915.58 bn	€1965.38 bn	€2012.00 bn
Change	+7.3%	+2.9%	+5.1%	+3.8%	+1.5%	+2.1%	+2.6%	+2.4%

	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009
GDP	€2062.50 bn	€2113.16 bn	€2143.18 bn	€2163.80 bn	€2210.90 bn	€2242.20 bn	€2325.10 bn	€2428.20 bn	€2495.80 bn	€2409.10 bn
Change	+2.5%	+2.5%	+1.4%	+1.0%	+2.2%	+1.4%	+3.7%	+4.4%	+2.8%	-3.5%

Economic regions

In several unitary European countries, such as United Kingdom and France, the capital city dominates the national economy. Germany - a federation -, on the other hand, does not have a single economic center: it is a polycentric country. Only 3 of Germany's 100 largest companies are headquartered in the capital Berlin. For example, the stock exchange is located in Frankfurt am Main, the largest Media company (Bertelsmann AG) is headquartered in Gütersloh; the most important car manufacturers are in Wolfsburg, Stuttgart and München.

Old Bundesländer

One of Germany's strongest (and at the same time oldest) economic regions is the Ruhr area in the west, between Bonn and Dortmund. 27 of the country's 100 largest companies are located there. The region also has one of the highest GDP per capita figures in Germany. In recent years, however, the area, whose economy is based on natural resources and heavy industry, has seen a substantial rise in unemployment. The economy of Bayern, the state with the lowest number of unemployed people, on the other hand, is based on high-value products. Important sectors are electronics, aerospace and biomedicine, among others. The reason for the low unemployment is that Bayern started its economic rise later, after the Second World War, and does not have as many traditional industries, which are presently encountering problems due to competition from countries such as China and India, as well as the exhaustion of natural resources.

New Bundesländer

 New federal states

With unification on October 3, 1990, Germany began the major task of reconciling the economic systems of the two former republics. Its task was complicated by the dismantling of the extensive welfare system of the former German Democratic Republic, which resulted in a temporary but significant drop of the standard of living of its citizens; interventionist economic planning ensured a quick return of the standard of living and a gradual increase up to the level of that of western Germany. Since reunification, hundreds of thousands of former East Germans have migrated into western Germany to find work. Drastic changes in the socioeconomic landscape brought about by reunification have resulted in troubling social problems. Economic uncertainty in eastern Germany is often cited as one factor contributing to extremist violence, primarily from the political right. Confusion about the causes of the current hardships and a need to place blame have found expression in harassment and violence by some Germans directed toward foreigners, particularly non-Europeans.

Even after the German reunification in 1990, the standard of living and annual income remains significantly higher in the former West German states. The modernisation and integration of the eastern German economy continues to be a long-term process scheduled to last until the year 2019, with annual transfers from west to east amounting to roughly $80 billion. The overall unemployment rate has consistently fallen since 2005 and reached a 15-year low in June 2008 with 7.5%. The percentage ranges from 6.2% in former West Germany to 12.7% in former East Germany.

Natural resources

The German soil is relatively poor in raw materials. Only lignite (brown coal) and potash salt (Kalisalz) are available in significant quantities. Oil, natural gas and other resources are, for the most part, imported from other countries.

The potash salt deposits are a result of the drying up of the Zechstein sea, which 250 million years ago covered large parts of North and Central Europe. Potash salt is mined in the center of the country (Niedersachsen, Sachsen-Anhalt and Thüringen). The most important producer is K+S AG (formerly Kali und Salz AG).

Germany's bituminous coal deposits were created more than 300 million years ago from swamps which extended from the present-day South England, over the Ruhr area to Poland. Lignite deposits developed in a similar way, but during a later period, about 65 million years ago. Due to the fact that the wood is not yet completely transformed into coal, brown coal contains less energy than bituminous coal.

Lignite is extracted in the extreme western and eastern pars of the country, mainly in Nordrhein-Westfalen, Sachsen and Brandenburg. Considerable amounts are burned in coal plants near to the mining areas, to produce electricity. Transporting lignite over far distances is not economically feasible, therefore the plants are located practically next to the extraction sites. Bituminous coal is mined in Nordrhein-Westfalen and Saarland. Most power plants burning bituminous coal operate on imported material, therefore the plants are located not only near to the mining sites, but throughout the country.

Sectors

Primary

In 2008 agriculture, forestry, and mining accounted for only 0.9% of Germany’s gross domestic product (GDP) and employed only 2.4% of the population, down from 4% in 1991.[citation needed] Much of the reduction in employment occurred in the eastern states, where the number of agricultural workers declined by as much as 75% following reunification.[citation needed] However, agriculture is extremely productive, and Germany is able to cover 90% of its nutritional needs with domestic production.[citation needed] In fact, Germany is the third largest agricultural producer in the European Union after France and Italy.[citation needed] Germany’s principal agricultural products are potatoes, wheat, barley, sugar beets, fruit, and cabbages.[citation needed] Despite Germany’s high level of industrialization, almost one-third of its territory is covered by forest. The forestry industry provides for about two-thirds of domestic consumption of wood and wood products, so Germany is a net importer of these items.

Industry

The world's largest coherent chemistry plant BASF near Ludwigshafen

See also: Mittelstand

Industry and construction accounted for 29% of gross domestic product in 2008, and employed 29.7% of the workforce. Germany excels in the production of automobiles, machinery, electrical equipment and chemicals. With the manufacture of 5.5 million vehicles in 2003, Germany was the world’s third largest producer of automobiles after the United States and Japan, although the People's Republic of China was threatening to displace Germany in the world rankings as early as 2005. In 2004 Germany enjoyed the largest world market share in machine tools (19.3%).Of vital importance is the role of small- to medium-sized manufacturing firms, which specialize in niche products and often are owned by management.

Tertiary sector

In 2008 services constituted 69% of gross domestic product (GDP), and the sector employed 67.5% of the workforce. The subcomponents of services are financial, renting, and business activities (30.5%); trade, hotels and restaurants, and transport (18%); and other service activities (21.7%).

Energy

 Energy in Germany and Transport in Germany

Germany is the world's fifth largest consumer of energy, and two-thirds of its primary energy was imported in 2002. In the same year, Germany was Europe's largest consumer of electricity, totaling 512.9 terawatt-hours. Government policy promotes energy conservation and the development of renewable energy sources, such as solar, wind, biomass, hydroelectric, and geothermal energy. As a result of energy-saving measures, energy efficiency has been improving since the beginning of the 1970s. The government has set the goal of meeting half the country's energy demands from renewable sources by 2050.

In 2000, the government and the German nuclear power industry agreed to phase out all nuclear power plants by 2021. The government reversed this decision in January 2010, electing to keep plants open. Renewable energy still plays a more modest role in energy consumption.

In 2009, Germany consumed energy from the following sources:

Oil 34.6%

Natural gas 21.7%

Lignite 11.4%

Bituminous coal 11.1%

Nuclear power 11.0%

Hydro and wind power 1.5%

Others 9.0%

Renewable energy is far more present in the domestically produced energy, since Germany imports about two thirds of its energy.

Oil and gas transport

There are 3 major entry points for oil pipelines: in the northeast (the Druzhba pipeline, coming from Gdańsk), west (coming from Rotterdam) and southeast (coming from Nelahozeves). The oil pipelines of Germany do not constitute a proper network, and sometimes only connect two different locations. Major oil refineries are located in or near the following cities: Schwedt, Spergau, Vohburg, Burghausen, Karlsruhe, Köln, Gelsenkirchen, Lingen, Wilhelmshafen, Hamburg and Heide.

Germany's network of natural gas pipelines, on the other hand, is dense and well-connected. Imported pipeline gas comes mostly from Russia, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. Although gas imports from Russia have been historically reliable, even during the cold war, recent price disputes between Gazprom and the former Soviet states, such as Ukraine, have also affected Germany. As a result, high political importance is placed on the construction of the Nord Stream pipeline, running from Vyborg in Russia along the Baltic sea to Greifswald in Germany. This direct connection avoids third-party transit countries.

Infrastructure

Hamburg harbour is the second-largest port in Europe.

With its central position in Europe, Germany is an important transportation hub. This is reflected in its dense and modern transportation networks. The extensive motorway (Autobahn) network that ranks worldwide third largest in its total length and features a lack of blanket speed limits on the majority of routes.

Germany has established a polycentric network of high-speed trains. The InterCityExpress or ICE is the most advanced service category of the Deutsche Bahn and serves major German cities as well as destinations in neighbouring countries. The train maximum speed varies between 160 km/h and 300 km/h (100-185 mph). Connections are offered at either 30-minute, hourly, or two-hourly intervals.

The ICE 3 trainset

Problems

A problem, pointed out by Gabor Steingart, is that the country's investment ratio (investment/GDP) has sunken from 18% in 1970 to 3%, and is now only a third of that of the United States. In Western Europe (including Germany) no new company has made it to the top 100 in the last 20 years - some consider this an problematic issue, while others cite it as an indicator of fair competition and lack of monopolization. This is in stark contrast to the United States, where newly founded high-tech companies have experienced significant increases.

(source:wikipedia)