The industrial zone of Europe once coined the "blue banana" has shifted over to Germany. The "blue banana" encompassed England to Italy, through the Netherlands and West Germany. A more modern term, the "golden football" reflects the shift on the industrial zone with a Germany centered location. With this shift the former communist nations joined the EU in 2004 and are partially the reason why the shift occurred. These nations are now manufacturing cars and some machinery while before they were only suppliers of raw material.
As a result of this shift a number of countries are experiencing loss of trade, while "golden football" countries are experiencing increases. Some of the reasons explained by the article state a change in type of businesses in some companies. For example England has shifted towards more business services than industrial. What are some other reasons you believe this shift has occurred? What are the implications of this shift for Europe?
Source:http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/17/business/international/industrial-zone-shifts-east-in-europe.html?ref=international&_r=0
1 comment:
I think the reason could be as Germany is known as the manufacturing country, and its neighboring countries are having a positive impact due to their geographic location and a history of being the underdogs of Europe.
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