One of the most unexpected declarations of 2012 was the proclamation by British Prime Minister David Cameron that Britain had to be more like the Germans. Earlier in December he urged his compatriots to copy Germany’s approach to skills and training for industry and business as a way of maintaining high employment levels in a tough competitive world. In 2013 we will hear more Cameron-style entreaties to adopt a “Germanic approach to skills” — and more praise for the German “jobs miracle.” Despite Europe-wide economic gloom and signs that the recession in the troubled southern half of the continent could be spreading ... (full story)