Germany

[Doug Henwood]

Today's Financial Times has a piece on succession pressures facing the
Mittelstand, Germany's small- and mid-sized businesses that the paper
describes as "one of the anchors of the German 'social market' mode." This
is expected to lead to a greater role for a "vibrant stock-market culture,"
as these firms go public (and become avaiable to foreign investors too). No
doubt European unification will intensify these trends, by promoting
competition and promoting the development of U.S.-style financial markets.

Doug