(01/08/09) -

Germans Pessimistic About Country in 2009

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The majority of people in Germany think the country will go through a rough patch in 2009, according to a poll by Forsa released by Stern. 62 per cent of respondents say Germany will have a bad year, while 33 per cent think the opposite.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The majority of people in Germany think the country will go through a rough patch in 2009, according to a poll by Forsa released by Stern. 62 per cent of respondents say Germany will have a bad year, while 33 per cent think the opposite.

However, 78 per cent of respondents say 2009 will be a good year for them personally.

Since late 2007, defaults on so-called subprime mortgages—credit given to high-risk borrowers—in the United States have caused volatility in domestic and global financial markets and pushed the U.S. economy into a recession. A recession is defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. The crisis has affected the global financial and credit systems.

Germany has been hit hard by turmoil in international financial markets, and went into recession in the third quarter of 2008. In October, the government of conservative chancellor Angela Merkel introduced an expensive rescue package aimed at stabilizing the financial system. The measure called for banks and financial institutions to borrow money from the government’s rescue fund.

The German legislature is currently studying a second economic stimulus package. On Jan. 5, Merkel declared: "We want to emerge from the crisis stronger than we were going in. (…) The central point is really to secure jobs and encourage investments."

Germany’s next federal ballot is tentatively scheduled for September 2009.

Polling Data

Will 2009 be a good year or a bad year for Germany?

Will 2009 be a good year or a bad year for you personally?

Source: Forsa / Stern
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,000 German adults, conducted on Dec. 11 and Dec. 12, 2008. Margin of error is 3 per cent.