Germany experienced many economic changes after the division of Germany into East Germany and West Germany. Initially, West Germany was established as a federal republic, but was established as an independent nation in 1955. Many events occurred in West Germany between the 1950s and 1980s before Germany becomes one nation again. There were events such as “oil price shocks, generous social programs, growing deficits, and loss of control.” East Germany's economy was strong due to the Soviet Union's dependence on East Germany's production of machine tools, chemicals, and electronics. It became attractive to reunify with West Germany when the value of East Germany's currency became "worthless" outside its country because East Germany was dependent from the request of the Soviet Union (Marketline). The two countries reunified in 1990 and the reunification caused a decrease in income. The economic power of Germany. This was largely due to East Germany's dependence on the Soviet Union for economic strength and stability. This remained true from 1991 to 1999 and is reflected in Germany's average economic growth of 1.8%. Their growth began to increase in 2000, reaching 3.3%. This was due to “increased merchandise exports and foreign direct investment” (Marketline). A good 2000 was followed by an average growth rate of 0.6% between 2001 and 2005. Germany was affected by the global economic situation, which led to a decline in German exports. With exports being one of the main contributors to Germany's GDP, this has led to a slowdown in Germany's economy. In addition to the global economic situation, they have also been affected by “the appreciation of the euro and the slowdown in domestic investment” (Marketline). In 2006 and 2007, the growth rate recovered to 3.9% and 3.4%, but then it slowed down. of paper...... Trading Economics: http://www.tradingenomics.com/germany/inflation-cpi•The Economists: print edition. (April 12, 2014). Charlemenge: The laws of euronomics. Retrieved from The Economists: http://www.economist.com/news/europe/21600723-german-legalism-hampering-rational-crisis-management-laws-euro-nomics?zid=295&ah=0bca374e65f2354d553956ea65f756e0•The Heritage Foundation. (2014). Index of Economic Freedom 2014. Retrieved from The Heritage Foundation: http://www.heritage.org/index/country/germany•The Irish Times. (April 30, 2014). German unemployment falls twice as much as expected. Retrieved from The Irish Times: http://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/german-unemployment-falls-twice-as-much-as-forecast-1.1778622•World Trade Organization. (March 2014). Germany. Retrieved from http://stat.wto.org/CountryProfile/WSDBCountryPFView.aspx?Language=E&Country=DE