Within the EU, the noticeable slowdown in Germany's economic momentum has impacted other affiliated countries. Germany is the largest industrial producer and the largest market for other EU economies. The situation is aggravated because most major markets are showing symptoms of weakness, casting shadows over the overall prospects for the world economy over the coming months. In this scenario, the health of the U.S. economy is a factor of prune concern. Eurofer analysts state that "the effectiveness of the policy of the Federal Re-serve to stimulate the U.S. economy is not certain, indeed the dangers of inflation have been increased." Negative factors include declining profitability and capital spending, falling productivity; reduced capacity utilization, the strong U.S. dollar and slowing overseas markets. The combination of these negative factors is weighing on the economy and leading to a decline in industrial activity; Unfortunately, neither the Asian nor the South American markets seem able to develop enough proprietary dynamism to compensate for these negative influences.
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