Grandparents, parents, children – all of them under one roof. This traditional model for living is becoming less common in Germany, and so-called "multi-generational" homes have been decreasing in number for years now. But in these economically uncertain times, many makers of prefabricated houses say more and more of their customers are asking for multi-generational homes for extended families.Prefab manufacturer Okal is one of the companies profiting from the trend. Multi-generational houses account for some 30 percent of the firm's sales. Just a few years ago Okal had actually wanted to remove the model from its range because there was so little demand. The company's chief architect, Sven Propfen, told our reporter Mabel Gundlach why demand is now rising again: the discontinuation of subsidies for people building their own owner-occupied homes and lower social benefits the unemployed, among others, are now receiving. He said as the social safety net becomes less reliable, family members' feelings of responsibility for one another are growing. When grandparents, parents, and children live together under one roof, building and living costs are reduced -- and child care becomes easier.

• 12/23/09
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Gisela Erler's child care consultancy Familienservice aims to help people maintain the proper work-life-balance: equilibrium between professional and private life, between work and raising a family. With almost a thousand employees, she finds child care for more than six hundred corporate customers.Founding the company was a result of her own painful experiences. Gisela Erler was a working mother. She constantly had trouble juggling job and family. After a conference of mothers, in 1987 the social scientist published a mother's manifesto. Together with a group of other women she called for the status of the family to be raised, and for guaranteed child care. Businesses began to listen. Carmaker BMW hired Erler to organize the company's own day-care. The 63 year old now runs child care centers for numerous enterprises and brokers caregivers or au pairs to their employees. She is also happy to pass on her expertise as a consultant for communities, foundations or at international conferences. Ute Schneider paid a visit to the family agent.

• 12/23/09
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Once the model train set under the Christmas tree has been unpacked, it'll traditionally keep fathers and sons occupied for days. These toys may be seriously addictive, but they needn't be prohibitively expensive. Piko, a family-run business in Thüringen has had the idea of offering relatively cheap starter sets for young model railway enthusiasts. After all, they are tomorrow's customers.The idea of getting children to identify with the brand has worked. René Wilfert is the owner and chief executive of Piko. He's currently celebrating the 60th anniversary of the family-run business and he's thinking of the happy faces of children and their generous papas. This year's season of giving has given Piko double-digit revenue growth. Only the company's export business has been slowed down by the financial crisis. But Wilfert hopes that as the economic situation improves, the US and eastern European markets for model trains will pick up. Report by Maria Lesser.

• 12/23/09
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Located on the outskirts of Stuttgart, Gosheim is known as "Mercedes Village", because local auto suppliers and engineering firms made it rich. Gosheim's 4000 residents benefitted from the 17 million euros in local business taxes collected here in 2008. But, as a result of the economic crisis, companies have no profits to tax.And to make matters worse, Mercedes plans to produce its new C-Class model in the United States. In Gosheim, many firms are fighting for their lives and the village itself is being forced to cut costs. Report by Marion Hütter.

• 12/16/09
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Askania began producing precision instruments for navies and expeditions in 1871. By the 1940s the firm was Germany's leading manufacturer of aviation instruments and responded to pilot's demands for a reliable pilot's wristwatch.In 2006, watch specialist Leonard Müller purchased the rights to the Askania name. His focus is on precision and reliability, because he says people aren't just buying a timepiece - they're buying into the dream of luxury. Report by Philipp Bilsky

• 12/16/09
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He's a happiness researcher at the Georg-Simon-Ohm Hochschule, a University of Applied Arts in Nuremberg.DW-TV: We've pulled in an expert. Karl- Heinz Ruckriegel. He's an economics professor and a happiness researcher at the University of Applied Sciences in Nuremberg. Mr. Ruckriegel, my mother has always said that you can't buy happiness. Are you here to debunk motherly wisdom? Karlheinz Ruckriegel: She was totally true in that what she said. If we take into consideration the research work that we have done during the past 50 years or so, then we can see on the one hand an increase in the GDP per capita quite dramatically in the western countries, but on the other hand we cannot see an increase in the question of being satisfied with life. DW-TV: Why do you think, though, that economics needs to worry about happiness? Economics is a science. Karlheinz Ruckriegel: I don't think that economics needs to worry because happiness is part of economics thinking. Because the decisive point in this case is that first we have to ask the question what is decisive in our life? And if we go back to Aristotle, he said the decisive point is that we try to reach happiness in our life. So the next point is...if this is our aim, then what can we do to reach this aim. And this is an economic question. DW-TV: That's the point isn't it. Everybody wants to reach happiness, but most people can't be happy if they are having to worry about having a job and making money, and in this crisis we are going through a lot of people are finding they are without work, or they're losing their homes. They are going to laugh at us if we tell them they should be out looking for happiness. Karlheinz Ruckriegel: We have a different situation between here in Germany on the one hand and maybe in the United States on the other. In Germany if you look at figure we have of unemployed people, we have only seen a small increase up to now. And the point is on the one hand, this is clear from research, that getting unemployed is very negative for satisfaction with life. But we have also to take into consideration that happiness or how to get happiness is not only concentrated on the question of a job. There are other factors which are similar in quality of happiness. DW-TV: We've been measuring happiness here in Europe and surprisingly the Germans are not very happy even though they've not been hit by unemployment as the Americans have, as you were talking about. Danes, the Swedes, and the Dutch are happiest. A very small percentage of Germans are satisfied with their lives, only 17 percent. Why do you think this is? Karlheinz Ruckriegel: If we compare the situation in Germany with that in the Scandinavian countries, we can see that there are two facts which are extraordinary. On the one hand the trust in other people and the question of equality. We can see there that people are more equal that we are. DW-TV: So there's not such a big spread between rich and poor. Karlheinz Ruckriegel: The next point is, I saw an interesting work a few weeks ago, is how we perceive the world. I this research work it was interesting that the Germans perceive the world more negatively and less positively compared with people in Denmark and so on. And this was a dramatic difference in this perception. DW-TV: Thank you very much (Interview: Brent Goff)

• 12/16/09
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For Gemany's Lufthansa Cargo, the quickest connections to Asia are through Russian airspace. But the planes need to refuel en route.Russia allows the aircraft to land in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, but Lufthansa is still barred from servicing the Siberian cargo market. Report by Markus Reher.

• 12/16/09
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The German „Juwi“ company is one of the trailblazers of renewable energy. From the lowly beginnings of a single wind turbine on company-owned ground, the company now oversees the construction of wind-power plants across the planet, and company executives have a dream: enough green energy to make Germany completely self-sufficient.As MADE IN GERMANY found out, the actual construction of the company building allows more green energy to be produced than is in fact needed, a success that the local rural council hopes to emulate by the year 2020, and wind power installations are already being built close to the Juwi Company headquarters. Report by Kerstin Schweizer.

• 12/16/09
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After the financial crisis, businesses are finally ready to invest again -- but banks are posing a problem when it comes to providing necessary loans.The consequence: the real economy is suffering from a credit crunch. Report by Milto Arsenopoulos.

• 12/9/09
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Based in Nuremberg, Germany, the Dehn + Söhne firm offers lightning damage and surge protection products. Whether it's the Cologne Cathedral or the Frauenkirche in Dresden, the Dehn company has got it covered.What began as a small-scale enterprise 100 years ago has developed into a global operation with more than 1,000 employees and sales offices around the world. Meanwhile, the challenges are becoming more and more complex ... Report by Sonja Schock.

• 12/9/09
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He is a financial markets expert from the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) in Berlin. DW-TV: Let's hear Jörg Rocholl once more, financial expert from the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin. We just heard -- 300 million € from Deutsche Bank, and up to 15 billion from other banks. That's not peanuts, is it? Jörg Rocholl: No, it's not peanuts, but still it's only a start for more global recovery of credit markets. At the same time there's a lot of confusion on what a credit crunch really is, and whether we actually are in a credit crunch or not. DW-TV: Are we? Jörg Rocholl: The figures are very misleading or can be very misleading. For example, the aggregate credit volume in Germany as well as the United States kept increasing over long periods throughout the financial crisis, and at the same time we do see complaints from companies that there's a credit crunch. So I think that we need a new database to really figure out whether there's a credit crunch or not. DW-TV: Well, leaving aside the definition of credit crunch, there are companies that are in need of money. Now Chancellor Merkel said that unless the credit situation improves, she will force the implementation of a kind of mediator -- to do what? Jörg Rocholl: Well the mediator would be there to match demand and supply. This has worked in France where about 2 billion € have been matched in loans. And this would also be one part to make this market in Germany work again. DW-TV: And who will make sure that the loans given out are actually safe and good loans? Jörg Rocholl: In the end this should be the duty of the banks. And this is why there's maybe good reason for them to say 'let's be very careful and let's make sure that all the borrowers are creditworthy'. DW-TV: Jörg Rocholl, thank you very much for joining us! (Interview: Monika Jones)

• 12/9/09
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The price of gold is on the rise, and the raw material has never been as valuable as it is today. In times of uncertainty, investors fall back on the security of gold -- whether it's in the form of bars, coins or jewelry.But even gold dealers and jewelry manufacturers need a sure supply, so they regard the surge in the price of raw gold with mixed feelings. Meanwhile the business of purchasing raw gold flourishes. Gold fever is spreading in Germany. Report by Marion Kappel.

• 12/9/09
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He is financial markets expert from the European School of Management and Technology (ESMT) in Berlin. DW-TV: For more we're joined by Jörg Rocholl, financial markets expert from the European School of Management and Technology in Berlin. What about your gold reserves. I already noticed you aren't wearing a golden ring. I hope you didn't sell it... Jörg Rocholl: No. I didn't. But if I had on gold, I probably would have sold it right away. DW-TV: Because the price of gold has soared, especially in the last from October 2008 to December of 2009. It went up by 40%. India buys gold...China does...all the central banks do. What exactly does this new gold rush imply for the financial world as a whole? Jörg Rocholl: There's some fundamental factors that drive the gold price at the moment. So there's a decline in supply of gold over the last years. And there's been an increase in demand. Given that there's weakness in the US dollar -- maybe a weakness of the world economy as a whole. but there's also some type of hurting going on at this point. More and more retail investors enter the gold market and buy gold, which is always a bad signal for any asset class, as we saw for example in the dot-com bubble a couple of years back. DW-TV: There's this rumor that gold is more reliable. Why? What makes it reliable? Jörg Rocholl: Well, it's physical, a real asset. Something that has kept its value over a long period of time, which may not always be the case for nominal values like paper money. DW-TV: Jörg Rocholl, I have one more question, but I won't ask you. I'll ask our viewers..." (Interview: Monika Jones)

• 12/9/09
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'Tis the season! The Christmas tree glimmers in all its glory, vendors' stands are decorated and the Glühwein, Germany's traditional mulled wine, is at the ready. The stressful sprint to the finish line has paid off. Peter Kittel, organizer of the Regensburg Christmas market, has finally reached his goal after months of preparation. Now it's time to draw in the visitors with nativity figures and handicrafts, delicious treats and Christmas spirit. Princess Gloria of Thurn and Taxis is there to celebrate the opening of the Christmas market. Some 200,000 people are expected to attend the festivities - but will the crowds turn out for the big event? Or will vendors feel the effects of the economic crisis on their holiday sales? MADE IN GERMANY returns this week with a report by Ute Schneider and Carmen Meyer on the business of Christmas.

• 12/9/09
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He once made headlines as one of the Germany's youngest Internet millionaires. And he has a penchant for innovative and exciting business concepts.Whether it's an edgy fashion label or even an entire castle, Jan Henric Buettner is always in search of unusual and promising investments. Report by Elisabeth Pongratz.

• 12/9/09
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Organic, eco-friendly and natural resources are not terms that consumers usually associate with the Henkel brand. The Düsseldorf-based company produces best-selling conventional detergents and adhesives.But with climate change becoming such an issue, the company recognizes that it will soon have to change course. Henkel recently started investing in organic products like environmentally friendly detergents. Report by Miltiades Arsenopoulos

• 12/2/09
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One day, every home in Germany could produce its own energy with the help of a small generator in the basement.Independent green electricity provider Lichtblick wants to join forces with carmaker Volkswagen to produce so-called mini power plants. Consumers will be able to use them to generate electricity and warmth while saving energy and helping protect the environment. Report by Claudia Laszczak

• 12/2/09
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Our studio guest this week is Claudia Kemfert, manager of the department of Energy, Transport and Environment at the the German Institute for Economic Research (DIW). DW-TV: Let's pull in Claudia Kemfert. She's head of Energy, Transport and Environment at the German Institute for Economic Research. Ms. Kemfert, what we've seen here, is this the answer to our energy problems? Should everyone make his or her house an energy plant? Claudia Kemfert: Well, it's one of the answers. It's especially efficient to produce electricity and heat in combination and for this I think it's a good opportunity to save energy and really to be independent from energy input. DW-TV:You say that every German needs to spend about a hundred and thirty euros a year to become CO2 neutral. Where does that money need to be spent? Claudia Kemfert: Well, this is the price on the stock exchange: 13 euros per tonne of CO2. You can donate this money, especially to a climate protection project, in developing countries for example. DW-TV: Is that more of a PR tactic to get people interested in reducing CO2 emissions? Claudia Kemfert: No, it's more than this, because on a global perspective it doesn't matter where you reduce emissions, it matters that you reduce emissions. For this it's OK just to donate some money in climate protection policies. DW-TV: Alright. Let's take a look at what the world's biggest economies are doing right now to go green. We've got a graphic we'd like to show you here and you can see China, South Korea, the United States, Germany, you can see how much they've actually spent as part of the economic stimulus packages that were passed in the last year and a half. It appears that the Chinese are upping the ante here when it comes to spending on green technology, but those numbers are tricky, aren't they? Claudia Kemfert: Well, they spent a lot of money, that's for sure. However, you have to see that they also spent on infrastructure investments, for example, like energy or rail infrastructure and that is something which we don't need to spend anymore. DW-TV: There is criticism here in Germany that the government here is pushing for growth in industries that produce too much CO2. Are we pushing the wrong areas of growth? Claudia Kemfert: No, not really. However, in the automobile industry, of course, we could do more. We need to produce climate-friendly technologies and also fuels and here I see some part of improvement. However, on the other sectors, for example, renewable energy, energy efficiency technology, we are already quite good. DW-TV: You know, you say we're already quite good here in Germany. If you compare Germany with the rest of Europe right now, where would you say the most improvement is needed? Claudia Kemfert: The most improvement is needed in the mobility sector for sure because we need alternative fuels, we need climate protection technologies and here the car manufacturers always try to avoid this. However, right now it's time to do the right things. DW-TV: OK. Claudia Kemfert, thank you very much. Stay with us. We're going to be talking with you again in a couple of minutes. (Interview: Brent Goff)

• 12/2/09
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Thomas Weber has been responsible for research and development at Daimler for the past 5 years. Whether the carmaker can stay afloat will be largely dependent on his work.Daimler is struggling with image problems. The company is trying to pull itself out of the red. Critics say Daimler took too long to respond to the trend towards environmentally friendly cars. Report by Mabel Gundlach

• 12/2/09
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The opening is around the corner. Christmas market organizer Peter Kittel has high hopes for a profitable season. Craftspeople from all over the region are busy putting up their stands and decorating them - with nativity figures and ironwork.Nobody's sure whether Princess Gloria of Thurn and Taxis will make it in time for the opening festivities. Peter Kittel is obviously nervous. Carmen Meyer and Ute Schneider paid him another visit for MADE IN GERMANY.

• 12/2/09
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Tens of thousands of students in Germany have taken to the streets to demonstrate against what they consider worsening conditions at universities. They say they're expected to achieve more and more in less and less time.One of the places where there is unrest is the Braunschweig University of Technology. Mechanical engineering students are furious. The pressure on students has increased steadily in the past number of years, and not all of them can keep up with it. Sonja Schock takes a look at the situation.

• 11/25/09
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Martin is longtime chairman of the BJU, the Association of Young Entrepreneurs.DW-TV: Let's pull in Dirk Martin from the BJU, the Association of Young Entrepreneurs here in Germany. Would you hire someone with a Bachelors degree? Dirk Martin: Of course we would. It's a question of qualifications and personality. After six semesters you can have a qualification. DW-TV: Why do you think people in the busienss world are so concerned about this new system in Germany. There are a lot of managers, people hiring, who are actually afraid of a Bachelors degree. Dirk Martin: I cannot understand this. Because I know there are a lot of people who have a qualification after six semesters and we know this qualification from a special university here in Germany. So I think they have some problems because it is completely new, but in the end we need these qualifications, we need these people, and we can be very happy that they are ready earlier than they were with the old system. DW-TV: Is it a time question here? A lot of people have complained in the past five or ten years that German students study too long. You as a businessman - do you want people coming to you who have less time at the university under their belt? Dirk Martin: Yes, of course. Because we can't find the people we need for our company. We are software developers and we need software developers. If I get them one year earlier, it's easier for me, and that's the reason why we changed the system. DW-TV: Do you understand what students are saying right now in their complaints - that there's less time for them to do internships, work study programms...they say they're coming out of university with a degree but not a lot of practical experience. Dirk Martin: I'm not really sure if they can't do other internships. They can change the university across Europe because it's all the same standard. So they can make experience outside Germany. So they can come into the company with experience from foreign countries. So I think the criticism is not understandable. DW-TV: You're a young entrepreneur, you talk to other young entrepreneurs. What would young entrepreneuers like yourself like to see coming out of universities here in Germany that's not happening? Dirk Martin: I think they're now earlier in the market, and that's fine for us. Maybe we can reduce the volume of the studies, because there are a lot of things that are not interested in the market. DW-TV: Dirk Martin is with us from the German Association of Young Entrepreneurs. Dirk, why can't companies guarantee us that our personal information will remain private? Dirk Martin: I think the problem is that you have more complexity in the networks and also more complexity with the data. So it's very difficult to protect all the data for the person who has to work with this. DW-TV: There are a lot of companies who sell our data to other companies, marketing for instance. They're looking to make money and the marketing companies say they need this information. That is one place where our privacy can be breached. Dirk Martin: We have rules so we have to protect the data. And you have to manage the right process that you can be sure that nobody takes this data to a place where other people can do something bad with it. DW-TV: But how can you be sure - so far companies haven't been successful at securing this information and keeping it safe. Dirk Martin: Not all companies did a bad job - a lot of them did a very good job. But here you see you have to improve two things: The process and maybe the software which can secure the data. DW-TV: Are consumers party responsible for this by putting too much information on the Internet, such as Facebook? Dirk Martin: Yes that's also a problem. there's a lot of information outside in the network, so I think that they are in charge of this information but there are some companies that make deals with this data and they have to protect this data. DW-TV: Dirk Martin. Thanks very much for talking with us.

• 11/25/09
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"Data theft at AWD Financial Services"…“Germany's Postbank treats customer data negligently" …"Data scandal: Telekom passes on customer data for ad campaigns" …these headlines from the past weeks are enough to cast light on the current shape of customer data security in Germany.What do the companies say to the accusations? Our reporter Mabel Gundlach explores the question of whether the latest scandals are simply glitches or whether the system is at fault. She visits Deutsche Telecom and the German Association for Data Protection and Data Security in Bonn.

• 11/25/09
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Preparations for Regensburg's Christmas market are in full swing. Many decisions have to be made soon, and nothing more can go wrong when setting up the stalls.In the second episode in our series, "Selling Christmas in Regensburg -- A Region and its Traditions," we accompany businessman Peter Kittel. He's under a lot of pressure because he has to select a Christmas angel from between twenty young women who have applied for the job. In the meantime, a tree has been felled in the forest and is being taken into town. Carmen Meyer and Ute Schneider were there.

• 11/25/09
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MADE IN GERMANY talks with Wolfgang Gerke about the spirit at the financial center of Frankfurt.DW-TV: What's your take on bankers' bonuses? Is it tasteless or actually justified? Wolfgang Gerke: No, it isn't justified. Worldwide something went wrong with the bonus payments. You got a very high bonus if you were someone who was making the most risky investments, and that was not the right way. The bonus system itself is a good incentive, but then we have to create a system which takes into consideration the risks too. That's the most important thing. You can't get your bonus every year. You have to wait three years, I would say. And then you can see if it really was a success or if you only put your bank at risk. DW-TV: Banks had to take a lot of stick lately, especially because of all this risk-taking mentality. So wouldn't be a good idea to improve one's image by cutting down on those bonuses? Wolfgang Gerke: It would be a very good idea, but I don't believe it's going to happen. There are so many different banks at the moment. Some German Landesbank wouldn't be able to pay bonuses and there are other banks, for example in the United States, Goldman Sachs, they are earning more and more money every day and they are the winner of the financial crisis. They are even earning money by the state placing bonds into the market. Therefore it's difficult to say that we need a system for all the banks, but I would ask for a system that if there are bonus payments and dividend payments, then you have to put reserves into your portfolio. The banks will not do that themselves so we need the G20 to decide on that. DW-TV: Obviously since the financial crisis hit, most banks all around the world were pretty much strapped for cash and now we hear about this renaissance of bonus payments. You just mentioned that there are several banks now making a profit again. Deutsche Bank is among those as well, which is somewhat surprising just one year, more or less, after Lehman Brothers collapsed. Does this mean that the crisis we've been talking about has been exaggerated or how is this possible? Wolfgang Gerke: No, no. It hasn't been exaggerated. This was a very very dangerous crisis and without the taxpayer it would have been dreadful. But, even the banks, earning so much money at the moment, are on the side of the winners because even if there is bank like Hypo Real Estate and the state is paying for that bank, then Deutsche Bank and other banks have less losses than they would have had. Therefore we must say that in the future every bank must be able to come through a crisis. Otherwise, one has to close the bank. Interview: Monica Jones

• 11/18/09
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The Regensburg Christmas market plays an important economic role in the region - a boon to the craftsmen, stall-holders and the city itself. It attracts tourists from all over the world, but primarily Americans. They love the traditional German atmosphere.Peter Kittel has been profiting from Christmas markets for the last eight years and he hopes that this year will be no different. A Report by Carmen Meyer and Ute Schneider.

• 11/18/09
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Quality Grade A means a lot to William Verpoorten. He's the head of his family business, now in its fifth generation, and he uses only eggs produced by company hens for his egg liquor. And they produce some 1,3 million eggs a day. William Verpoorten is the man behind Germany's famous egg liquor: Verpoorten, based in Bonn.Report by Grit Hofmann.

• 11/18/09
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After the global economic crisis Frankfurt's bankers are once again in high spirits. Big hitters like Deutsche Bank are seeing net profits in the billions, while poor performances from worse-hit banks like Commerzbank - which was bailed out by the state - are simply ignored.Meanwhile, the battle against bonuses appears to have been lost. Report by Oliver Hoesch.

• 11/18/09
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