News from the Bazaar Economy

Data on the world’s production structure, which are taken from input-output tables, show that the foreign share of value creation that lies in German exports rose from 13.5% to 20% between 1995 and 2008. This means that the long-term trend towards Germany becoming a bazaar economy remains unbroken. Although the trend did weaken during the economic crisis of 2009, at which time foreign value creation fell to 18%, this was presumably only a temporary effect. Imports from China and Central and Eastern European countries are becoming increasingly important for German exports in manufacturing.