Germany is an amazing country in economic terms. It is not perfect, like in its employment, but it has many aspects that the US and would, and should, be incredibly envious of. I lived in our American "rust belt," the area of our Midwest that dominated the world's secondary economy (manufacturing) until the mid-70s. Arguably, the cities of Detroit, Flint, Dayton, Gary, Cleveland, and Pittsburgh were, and still are, devastated by the loss of our share of the secondary industry. I wonder at the loss of the trades. German engineering and quality is legendary. BMW bought MINI in 2000 and Rolls-Royce in 2003. I am deeply fascinated with automobiles as a mechanic's son, working in the auto industry in LA, and living in Detroit. I've seen the MINI plant in Oxforshire, England and I've seen Ford's process in Michigan. Each is impressive and share common components: skilled labor. After reading the prompt above, read or listen to the following resources: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/ben-bernanke/2015/04/03/germanys-trade-surplus-is-a-problem/ https://www.npr.org/2018/01/05/575615220/germanys-export-machine-draws-both-envy-and-ire https://www.npr.org/2018/01/04/575114570/robust-apprenticeship-program-key-to-germanys-manufacturing-might https://www.npr.org/2018/01/03/572901119/how-germany-wins-at-manufacturing-for-now Chapter 5 gets into the MRTS (marginal rate of technical substitution). This is a fundamental figure of looking when to automate. There are some things that capital can do but some quality is impossible to let go of traditional labor. Labor economics is a supply-side story but it matters to a small firm owner that depends on high-quality employees. Now, in a forum post responding to the following prompt(s) or question(s): Give me your opinion behind Germany's trade patterns, policies, and promotion. Should we change to emulate?