The Cologne Institute for Economic Research has released its 2011 Economic Forecast, headlined on its website, “Alles wird besser,” that is, “Everything will get better.” The lead:

With the serious excesses of the global financial and economic crisis just barely behind us, the good economic news is mounting — and that’s true for Germany even more so than most other industrial nations. Those are the latest findings of the Institute for Economic Research in Cologne (IW). Economic growth will indeed continue next year, if at a slightly reduced pace.

More details from the website (in German) and forecast:

  • Germany’s GPD will rise 3.25 in 2010
  • Growth will be about 2 percent in 2011
  • The growth is largely attributable to the growth in exports, although both exports (up a projected 16.75 percent) and imports (up 15.5 percent) will next year nearly reach their pre-crisis levels.
  • Next to exports, other important drivers of economic growth will be investment and private consumption.

And the headline of the statement from the Oct. 4 news conference is “Domestic demand will take the lead in the economy,” with the secondary headline, “Continual recovery and possible extended growth for German economy.”

IW is a business-backed research institute in Cologne, headed by Michael Hüther, which is the same as Huether, which is the last name of the NAM’s chief economist, David Huether. Coincidence?