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No, Germany has not always had a huge export surplus.

http://www.tradingeconomics.com/charts/germany-current-accou...

The current surplus is not a feature of German productivity but the result of having an undervalued Euro and depressed domestic demand.

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Lots of Germany's main trading partners (e.g. France) are Eurozone countries too. If this were not the case, the DEM would have appreciated against their currencies by now but instead there is effectively a currency peg supporting German exports.

Yes, DM undervalued within the Euro.

That's a very short view. Look back more.

> The current surplus is not a feature of German productivity but the result of having an undervalued Euro and depressed domestic demand.

The Euro is not really undervalued. The current surplus is a feature of Germany's long term export oriented industry.

The Euro is the currency of a wide range of fiscally independent countries which have had very different economic developments during the time since they adopted the Euro; its value is perhaps an adequate average of those countries, but nevertheless it is at the same time under-valued in Germany as it is over-valued in Spain.

> under-valued in Germany as it is over-valued in Spain.

How can the Euro be 'under-valued' in Germany?

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