How will Germany’s regions fare in the knowledge-based society of the future?
Major discrepancies in job creation and economic power exist between Germany’s federal states. These differences are caused by development potentials that have not materialised to the same degree everywhere. The creation and realisation of potentials hinges largely on the surrounding political and social conditions, which include the amount of support provided for businesses and industry, the level of bureaucracy, and the number of creative individuals. These are the factors that will determine the future of Germany’s regions. The standard key indicators of a market economy ¬– such as gross domestic product and per capita income – are not the only means of gauging the regions’ sustainability. New criteria that have proven effective in measuring innovation and future economic growth in other highly developed industrial nations can also be used. According to these criteria, the most successful societies are “creative” ones that are the best and quickest at combining existing knowledge to
