Germany's massive orders for military tanks raises Europe's largest economy out of recession

SHOOT: If your economy is in trouble, start a war, it's one way to revive manufacturing and reduce unemployment. There's another option of course, which is increase the intensity of your agriculture/farming, preferably by using more people and less mechanised methods.

clipped from www.ft.com However, orders were still almost 20 per cent lower than in the same month a year before – highlighting the long-haul German industry faces to return to more normal conditions. Meanwhile, July’s figures were flattered by large defence orders, according to the federal statistics office in Wiesbaden, which could largely have explained a sudden 17.2 per cent rise in domestic orders in the “investment goods” category. Early in the month, Rheinmetall, the defence and automotive group, had announced €3.1bn in orders for military tanks. Germany has been among the first of the world’s largest nations to emerge from recession – but it was also one of the countries worst affected by the collapse in global confidence after the failure of Lehman Brothers, the investment bank, in autumn last year. By February this year, industrial orders had fallen to levels not seen for 10 years. The latest data suggested orders were back at levels seen in late 2003.