Ranking Germany as a business site

Increasing economic integration on a global scale, European political consolidation, demographic shifts and financial crises in the national budget and in the social welfare system are the main challenges Germany faces in trying to maintain its attractiveness as a business location and provider of social services. The ability of economic and social institutions to perform and adapt will largely determine Germany's ability to return to low levels of unemployment numbers and steady growth.

To prepare its economic system and institutions for new challenges, the country needs a social, economic and political model that provides consistent guidelines for reforms and helps citizens be open to and ready for change.

But this cannot be done unless Germany continually reassesses its position: Where do the German federal and state governments stand in terms of economic performance, jobs, competitiveness and regulation? What steps are needed to fix the problems that have been identified? Often the best way to identify reform strategies and measures for enacting economic and sociopolitical change is to look beyond the country's borders.