and there is a gap between the salaries of men and women. Also, theyhave to pay about 7-8% of their salaries into a health-care plan. Most of the people from the Easthave lived their whole life being governed by the State, now that it?s gone, they don?t know whatto do. Three-fourths of Eastern?s feel that they have been ?overwhelmed and taken over? by theWesterners and about half feel a great deal of resentment towards the people from the West.East Germans feel that their own lives, everything they did, worked and stood for over a periodof 40 years had been devalued and denigrated. In their daily lives, they have to deal with theapparent superiority of the Western system. It gives them a feeling of inferiority [JohnDornberg].The reunification may have had negative effects on the way of living people experiencein the East, but it definitely benefited the economy and the political system. It will take a whilefor them to appreciate the good that the reunification had done to their part of the country. A graph comparing the two economiesThe WestThe EastNational Product$1.2363 trillion$ 108.3 billionNational Product per capita$19,660$5,950AgricultureAccounts for 1% of GDP,principal crops and livestock-potatoes, wheat, barley,sugar beets, fruit, cabbage,cattle, pigs, and poultry,Accounts of about 10% ofGDP, principal crops andlivestock- wheat, rye, barley,potatoes, sugar beets, fruit,pork, beef, chicken, and milkIndustriesAmong the world?s largestand technologically advancedproducers of iron, steel, coal,cement, chemicals,machinery, vehicles,electronics and machine toolsMetal fabrication, chemicals,brown coal, petroleumrefining, textiles, machineand ship buildingUnemployment Rate7.4%20%Fig. 1.2Source: German American Club West GermanyThe joining of East and West Germany has proven to be majorly painful for WestGermany, for both the nation and its taxpayers. Many former Wes...
