None of this would have been possible without Germany's vote of
confidence and overwhelming economic presence in the Czech Republic.
The deteriorating fortunes of the Czech economy are, indeed, intimately
linked to the economic stagnation of its northern neighbor, as many an
economist bemoan. But this only serves to prove that the former's
recovery is dependent on the latter's resurrection.
Either way, to have so overtly and blatantly abandoned Germany in its
time of need would surely prove to be a costly miscalculation. The
Czechs - like other central and east European countries - mistook a
transatlantic tiff for a geopolitical divorce and tried to implausibly
capitalize on the yawning rift that opened between the erstwhile allies.
Yet, Germany is one of the largest trading partners of the United
States. American firms sell $24 billion worth of goods annually there -
compared to $600 million in Poland. Germany's economy is five to six
times the aggregated output of the EU's central European new members
plus Slovakia.
According to the New York Times, there are 1800 American firms on
German soil, with combined sales of $583 billion and a workforce of
800,000 people. Due to its collapsing competitiveness and rigid labor
laws, Germany's multinationals relocate many of their operations to
central and east Europe, Asia and north and Latin America.
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