Issues Research

#1-Slow GDP Growth Rate

Problem
Germanys GDP growth rate is a mere .5%. That puts them at 185
th
in the world, ahead of only
36 other countries. This is a serious issue because if the GDP of Germany does not increase fast
enough, more and more businesses will wait to see if the economy improves before investing in
different purchases and hiring new employees. This lack of business activity will further lower
the economy, causing other businesses to wait, causing the economy to drop, etc. etc. This cycle,
if left alone, will eventually become so severe that many businesses will become stagnant, and
will cause unemployment to rise rapidly, along with inflation, because money will be printed, but
not used in many purchases. This will, once again in a viscous cycle, reduce the economy to a
point where the country would simply fall apart due to the severe lack of growth.
Possible Solutions
One possible solution would be to increase the production rate of base goods, so that the final
production rate would increase as a result. Since the final product is the only thing that matters,
the GDP would go up rather quickly, if you increase production enough. This would make it so
the businesses would be so busy handling productions that they would be inadvertently creating
activity, thereby improving the economy, ending the cycle mentioned above, and bringing up the
GDP as well. Another way to increase the GDP growth rate would be to have people work more
efficiently. Efficient workers would be able to do more work faster, thereby increase the GDP by
making more goods in the same amount of time. This would help to end the cycle that I
mentioned above by creating a boosted economy due to two things; the purchase of better and
faster equipment, and the increased production rate.
Works Cited
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061113193631AAsuLsa I found the second
possible solution to my issue on this site
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gm.html - I found Germanys
GDP growth rate on this site
http://useconomy.about.com/od/grossdomesticproduct/f/GDP_Growth_Rate.htm - I found out
what a low GDP growth rate can cause on this site
#2-Environmental Issues
Problem
Germany faces several problems with emissions from coal-burning utilities and industries
contributing to air pollution nationwide. Forests all over are being damaged by acid rain, caused
by sulfur dioxide. This issue also affects the food chain in that area drastically. Western
Germany has polluted the Baltic Sea with raw sewage and industrial effluents, due to the lack of
land available to bury these things. The German government is working to meet the EU
commitment to identify different nature preservation areas that meet the EUs directives.
Agricultural developments have led to pesticide and fertilizer runoff, which contaminates the
water supply. The burning of brown coal, the only kind abundant in Germany, has contributed to
health problems such as respiratory illnesses, lung disease, and heart disease. Industrialization
has taken its toll on Germany, having the worst pollution levels in Europe, according to a 1985
UNESCO report.
Possible Solutions
One possible solution to Germanys many economic problems would be to create harsher
punishments for people found performing these acts, both individuals and businesses. This
would, at first, not do much, but after a few people are caught and punished, word will spread
and fear of the punishment will prevent further transgressions. This would be extremely
beneficial, because, not only would we be preventing more pollution, we would be promoting the
safe removal of said pollutants from the areas where they are currently harming the environment.
Another solution would be to make the guidelines for the EUs flora, fauna, and habitat directive
stricter. This would automatically reduce the amount of continuing pollution because, even if
companies are doing the bare minimum, the minimum would be higher, meaning they would
have to do more in order to keep doing only the bare minimum. Hopefully, however, may, if not
all, companies, will see the need for change and will not stick to the bare minimum, but will go
above and beyond.

Works Cited
http://www.voyagesphotosmanu.com/environmental_issues_germany.html - I used this site to
find out what some of Germanys environmental issues were.
http://shinilglobalcommunityproject.wikispaces.com/Germany+Environmental+Issues+3-3 I
used this site to find out not only some of the problems in Germany, but also some possible
solutions.
http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Europe/Germany-ENVIRONMENT.html - I used this for
information on how severe the environmental issues in Germany were.