The downsides of German growth

"It is wrong to argue that Germany is the growth engine of the European economy, which is what we have seen argued in recent days," said Simon Tilford, chief economist with the Centre for European Reform.. "It is right to argue that it is a drag." This year's German trade surplus topped $ 77 billion through May, about 60 percent of that occurring within Europe. Restrained German wage growth - which actually declined in 2009 and is forecast to do so again in 2010 - made goods particularly competitive on international markets and spells bad news for European neighbours, like the Czech Republic, who seek to sell goods to German consumers, Tilford says.