I just stumbled across this article on the internet and thought some of you might be interested. It was written earlier this year. I have only glanced over it but here is a preview.
The article is called Modell Deutschland uber alles, which translates to Let's prioritize modeling Germany. It talks about good and bad points of the Germany economy. From what I've seen I think it is full of shit but it might be fun to discuss. IMO a discussion might help visualize differences in corporate constructs.
http://www.economist.com/node/21552579