Free Internet Press: Europe in the Lead as Resurgent German Economy Overtakes U.S., Britain

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Europe in the Lead as Resurgent German Economy Overtakes U.S., Britain

The mainland European economy, buoyed by a resurgent Germany, is expanding at its fastest rate in six years, outstripping Britain and the U.S., fresh figures showed Monday.

Domestic euphoria over the football World Cup held in Germany boosted the country's economy, which grew by 0.9% in the second quarter, the fastest growth for more than five years, government figures showed.

Domestic investment and a rise in consumer spending have overtaken exports as the main impetus for economic growth. "For years we Germans have seen the glass as half-empty; now, at long last, it is half-full," one chief executive said, expressing the hope that the optimism generated by the summer Fussballfest (World Cup) would continue for the rest of the year. The bounce in the German economy was reflected elsewhere in Europe, according to European Union (E.U.) figures. The French economy expanded 1.2% in the second quarter, its fastest rate in six years, and economists expect the European Central Bank to raise interest rates twice more this year to 3.5%. In the second quarter, the U.S. economy grew by 0.6% and the U.K. 0.8%. "Europe is in the lead," said Holger Schmieding, economist at the Bank of America.