When a nation has produced Im-manuel Kant and Georg Hegel, it seems safe to say that thinking deeply is among its strengths. But when it comes to reflections of a more practical nature, the German way of generating new ideas fails to reach the desired level of output. Take the issue of demography. If Germany has one chronic problem, it is that of ageing. Yet when the Berlin Institute for Population and Development, a small think-tank, wanted money to study demography and its policy implications, German foundations yawned; America's Hewlett Foundation finally stepped in.
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