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"As companies in Germany focus on business strategy for 2003 and beyond, Business Monitor International's Germany Forecast Report re-evaluates political risk, the economic outlook and industry performance through end-2005. Divisions among the Western allies over weapons inspections in Iraq may have far-reaching ramifications for US relations. On the economic front, weak consumer demand, continued uncertainty over the outlook for the world economy, and geopolitical instability in the Middle East are likely to keep business investment subdued over 2003, despite the recent interest rate cut by the European Central Bank. The prospect of government spending restraint is likely to provide an additional obstacle to a recovery in domestic demand. And with the world economic recovery lacking pace, the impulse from net exports, which owes more to falling imports than growing exports, is unlikely to be strong going forward. Nevertheless, GDP growth should benefit in early 2003 by the rebuilding of stocks, which producers have been running down since 2001. In all, growth is expected to accelerate in 2003, though the risks are currently on the downside." (Germany Quarterly Forecast Report).
According to an article by William Parks, titled "Bumps and Jolts On the Cultural Road" the attitudes and beliefs of Germans differ from ones of Americans. Germans have a lot of expectations of themselves in the business world. They expect, high-level, expert performance in all business situations. If they fumble around in English it results in personal embarrassment and even personal shame. In turn, Americans might put learning a foreign language on a list of things to do, and if they ever get around to learning it, they do not appreciate it the way the Germans do. Americans take it for granted that they know English, and don't appreciate the fact that some people have had to go through a lot to be able to even communicate in the business world.