1. Germany Brandon Goehring Preston Van Winkle Christopher Keizer Julian Khalifa

2. German Government Germany is a republic with a parliamentary democracy and a bicameral system of government, made up by the Federal Government, Federal Parliament, the Federal Council, and the Federal President.

3. Federal Government and Parliament Federal Government known as Bundesregierung Comprised of the Chancellor and their Ministers Ministers are made up from members of the Federal Parliament. Parliament known as Bundestang Comprised of elected representatives Elections held every 4 years Representatives draft and pass legislation Additionally, approve annual budgets and vote on the deployment of the German army

4. Federal Council and President Council known as Bundesrat 69 members representing the state’s interests at federal level Involved with creating and approving legislation. President known as Bundespräsident Elected for a 5 year term by Federal and State Parliament Head of German State Mostly ceremonial responsibilities within and outside of Germany Ability to appoint and dismiss the Chancellor

5. Taxation in Germany Germany is a Federal Republic Taxes levied by three levels of Government 95 percent of taxes imposed on the Federal level Major taxes Income tax Value Added Tax (VAT) Corporate taxes Abide by fiscal policy (general tax law)

6. Tax Break Down The taxation is broken down into classes based on income and personal status. class I = single class II = single parent (living alone with the child/children) class III = married and spouse has no income or lower income class IV = married and similar income to spouse class V = opposite of class III, ie this is the class your lower earning spouse has if you have III class VI= for a second job or for deduction without proper employee information

7. Major Taxes Income Tax Use Progressive Tax structure Ranges from 0% to 45% Corporate Tax Generally just below 30% Value-Added Tax all services and products are subject to VATs 7% to 19%

8. Tax Revenue German Tax Revenue totaled €593 billion in 2014. Distributed to the three levels of German government Federation States and Municipalities

9. Tax Revenue of Germany

10. Spending 8 prominent expenditures. Health Social Security Defense Income Security Interest Education Environment International Affairs

11. German Spending

12. German Budget Prior to recession, Germany ran a deficit of 0.3 in 2007 Relatively small but still a deficit 2007 German budget proposed a 42.4 percent cut in revenues and a 2.3 percent cut in expenditures 2008 budget also proposed a cut to revenues, but of only 2.3 percent and an increase in expenditures of 2.5 percent

13. German Budget 2006-2010

14. Cause of the German Recession Collapse of world trade markets (recessions in other countries) was the primary cause of the recession in Germany This is unlike most other major nations like the US Germany's recession is unique because it was not preceded by a large credit bubble.

15. Effects on the Economy At the time of the German recession, the country was just beginning to decrease unemployment. Before the recession, unemployment was about 10 percent In 2007, unemployment was shrinking to about 8 percent In 2008, unemployment bottomed out at about 7.5 percent

16. Effects on the Economy

17. GDP went from 3435.68 B in 2007 to 3746.92 B in 2008 then dropped to 3412.98 B in 2009

18. Germany’s Recovery Germany’s economy largely based off exports Germany experienced a very strong 2006 Stronger than the United States’ Unemployment was steadily falling Past decades spent reforming the labor market Entering the recession, Germany was in a very strong position

19. Germany’s Recovery Rather than cut jobs, German government encouraged firms to cut hours Workers who lost hours were issued income subsidies Large drop in output, minor increase in unemployment Far less unemployment than the US or any other major nation Average workweek hours fell below the United States’ Total hours worked remained above the United States’

20. Germany’s Recovery China one of Germany’s largest trading partners Many German goods exported to China As China began to recover, Germany began exporting goods immediately Firms didn’t need to hire new employees Simply had to increase the hours of their current workers to increase production Europe’s recovery was not as swift Many European nations still recovering meant a weak Euro This lowered the real cost of German exports Quick recovery due to multiple factors Rather than cut jobs, firms cut hours and the government provided income subsidies A weak Euro made German exports more appealing to foreign investors

21. Works Cited Page http://commonslibraryblog.com/2014/02/26/recession-and-recovery-the-german-experience/ https://www.dbresearch.com/PROD/DBR_INTERNET_EN- PROD/PROD0000000000202696/Germany's+2007+Federal+Budget%3A+Finance+Minister+Pe.PDF http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2010/11/cross-country_comparisons http://www.ukgermanconnection.org/politics-german-government http://www.heritage.org/index/country/germany http://www.concordcoalition.org/learn/budget/federal-budget-pie-charts http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NE.CON.GOVT.ZS http://www.vatlive.com/country-guides/germany/german-vat/ http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2010/11/cross-country_comparisons http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/11/business/economy/a-faster-recovery-in-germany-than-elsewhere.html?_r=0