The silent losers of Germany’s export surpluses. How current account imbalances are exacerbated by the misrepresentation of their domestic costs

Abstract

Germany’s excessive current account surpluses mirror domestic problems. They are rooted in inequality and a weak home market, creating an overdependence on exports. Why, then, are policymakers so reluctant to reduce them? This paper argues that a contributing factor is the public misrepresentation of surpluses’ domestic costs. Imbalances are narrated as distributional conflicts between countries, not within them; and bilateral trade is framed as a competition, where surplus countries win. The analysis reconstructs stakeholders’ positions and discursive strategies through media narratives and Bundestag debates, using an original dataset of public statements. It finds evidence for a systematic bias disregarding the domestic losers of surpluses. Whenever imbalances are discussed, the triggering event is outside criticism, mainly from the European Commission and the US. The ensuing debate follows an ‘us versus them’ logic, where foreign critics clash with domestic defenders—mainly the government and export-sector organisations. The success narrative and identitarian discourse about an ‘export nation’ limits left-wing actors’ room to move beyond incremental criticism. The analysis finds an effect of European integration exacerbating imbalances. Germans fend off critics by an arena-shifting strategy: pointing out that exchange rates and trade are European-level prerogatives, disregarding internal policy levers for rebalancing.

Spatial Analysis of the Effect of Halal Product Export and Import on Current Accounts in OIC Countries

“…The current account can have a surplus in two ways by lowering the price of domestic goods so that people will prefer to buy local products which will reduce imports and increase exports. Then the second is by suppressing imports and making all production activities for each item carried out domestically [20]. In addition, the value of the current account balance that experiences a surplus will affect the condition of the balance of payments which will show more stable conditions from macroeconomic factors in the country [21].…”

“…However, a deficit current account value does not always indicate that the country's economy is bad because it all DOI 10.18502/kss.v9i16.16237 ICIEBDS depends on domestic and international economic conditions [19]. Meanwhile, a surplus current account will lower the cost of living in the country [20].…”

Sostenibilidad económica de las organizaciones caficultoras a través de los costos de exportación

“…En las bases teóricas relacionadas con el control de los costos de exportación en la industria cafetalera, Laksana (2022) lo describe como el proceso mediante el cual los exportadores buscan obtener utilidades al vender sus productos en el extranjero. Meng-Wei et al (2021) resaltan que implica acciones para regular los precios de exportación; la importancia del control de costos de exportación se destaca según Polyak (2022) porque permite administrar eficazmente los recursos destinados a las actividades de exportación y evita pérdidas económicas, asegurando el desarrollo continuo de las operaciones. Noureen & Zafar (2022) señalan limitaciones, como la falta de conocimiento sobre procedimientos de exportación y la necesidad de capacitación en aspectos relevantes.…”

US monetary hegemony in the wake of Russia’s aggression of Ukraine

“…Trgovinske neravnoteže koje generiraju suficitarne države predstavljaju se kao distributivni konflikti između država, a ne kao unutardržavni sukobi između izvozno orijentiranog sektora s jedne strane te potrošača i sektora orijentiranog na domaće tržište s druge strane. Bilateralna trgovina uokviruje se kao natjecanje u kojem pobjeđuju države sa suficitom (Polyak, 2022). 28 Osim hegemonije američkog dolara, još su dva dodatna obilježja sustava.…”