Germany's North-South divide

The latest evidence about the superiority of markets (over government planning) seems to come from Germany, people go to better schools, get jobs more easily, earn more and live longer to enjoy it. Crime is also lower. I say "seems to" because inferring causality from correlation is notoriously difficult.

In 1960 Bavaria was the poorest part of West Germany. Like its neighbours, it lacked natural resources and had to find work for millions of Germans who had fled central Europe from 1945 and settled in rural areas. So successive governments limited bureaucracy and offered incentives for investment not just in big cities but also in smaller-scale production in towns and villages. This suited economic traditions: the hilly south had generally been farmed in small patches by self-sufficient families, while the flatter north lent itself to larger, more class-stratified agri-businesses. ... Bruno Hildenbrand, a sociologist, even suggests that the relative autonomy of the southern farming families gave the region a more entrepreneurial and pragmatic mentality.

HT: MarginalRevolution.com