But youthful challenger Schroder, at 55, the embodiment of Europe's new slick left, worries a lot of Germans, particularly older ones, who tend to be a conservative lot. Supporters claim Schroder will be the Tony Blair of Germany, who talks left but moves Germany firmly right, effecting painful, but long-overdue economic reforms. Germany is badly in need of sweeping structural change. While German products are still rightly renowned for quality, superb engineering, and reliability, the industry that produces them is in deep trouble - or even facing extinction. Germans are simply living way beyond their means.
Government regulations tie industry's hands and make firing workers almost impossible.
Firms that can't fire, don't hire. Taxes in Germany, like Canada, are crushing the life out of industry. Social benefits and unemployment payments in German are ridiculously high. Government continues huge subsidies to zombie industries, such as coal and steel. Multiple layers of local, state and federal government have turned once efficient Germany into a Sargasso Sea of red tape and bureaucracy.