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Comment by weatherlite | Hacker News Reader

> Do their economies look healthy?

It's all relative. Relative to what? I think its healthier than it would have been had there been no manufacturing at all.

> Are those manufacturing jobs attractive?

Not all but some are for sure. I'm sure there are enough people working for Volkswagen, BMW or Bosch that earn well and prefer working for them than doing something else.

> Are the Germans and the Japanese richer?

Again, richer than what? I think they're richer than they would have been had they not been manufacturing anything. If you're asking whether they're richer than Americans, no they're not, but that's mostly due to historical reasons (U.S dollar is the world reserve currency).

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OK, let's put it this way. You would struggle to buy a house if you worked at VW assembling cars. You would be able to rent an apartment and have a relatively good if modest existence. Nothing close to what Americans are able to afford.

But if you wanted to create blue collar jobs and if the government was going to step in and contort the economy with heavy handed measures, anyway, then just setup a public works program and build a bunch of housing, build and maintain energy and transport infrastructure, build climate mitigation projects. That would actually address a real demand and make a whole lot of sense.

> You would struggle to buy a house if you worked at VW assembling cars.

Any source for that? What's the average VW salary , I'm assuming life long VW workers are actually pretty well compensated.

> Nothing close to what Americans are able to afford.

Americans are rich in small part due to true innovation (Google, Microsoft, biotech etc) and large part running endless deficits by having the world's reserve currency. Also America is the complete opposite of the government planned economy / state socialism you're proposing the Germans should do.

What fucking Americans are you talking about? Sure we got the most billionaires in the world but how many millennials and younger cohorts can't and won't ever afford homes?

You are free to come to Germany. Pretty sure you can get a VISA to do an Ausbildung at the end of which you will be working in some factory or another. Getting a German VISA is much easier than getting an American VISA and Germany is actively advertising abroad to attract workers. That should tell you something, but do come and experience it with your own eyes.

>Getting a German VISA is much easier than getting an American VISA

Based on Münchau's Kaput, this doesn't seem to be the case. Sounds like they are pretty comparable, especially if you're not a refugee.

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