>"small rich countries"
>australia
Ok.
First of all the wealth these countries have is due to different reasons.
For example, we (Germany) don't have a lot of natural resources we can sell.
Australia does.
Our economy thrives because we can produce goods and services and sell them abroad.
Because of this there are two things that can royally fuck us up:
>1. foreign countries run out of credit/money to buy our stuff
>2. The european economy becomes strong, which makes the euro more expensive, which disincentives the purchase of our "expensive" goods.
Especially #2 is tricky.
A strong euro would mean more wealth in the german citizens pocket, but would also mean less jobs.
Meanwhile a weak euro would mean more jobs, but less money in our citizens pocket.
Here's where the burgers come in:
They have, even with the fed being somewhat secretive control over their currency.
If their economy worked the same way germany's did, they could act in their own interest. Purchase debt when required, raise/lower interest rates etc.
That is a fucking huge advantage to have.
In Europe the ECB is in charge.
And they have to act "in the interest of the eurozone". So when the german economy doesn't align with the rest of europe, guess who has to take a beating? We do.
And we have the high-explosive mix of politicians in charge who would like nothing better than to destroy our economy.