Clutching the short straw

“But the city has since transformed its commitment to chic poverty into one of its key selling points — and it is one which has so far protected it from the tidal wave of economic bad news. Berlin’s lack of industry means it is immune to the shocks being suffered in other parts of the country where auto manufacturers and engineering companies are feeling the full impact of the global economic slowdown.”

“Berlin is now the only place in the world you can go where everyone isn’t depressed,” said Marc Glimcher, president of PaceWildenstein art galleries in New York. “That’s because in Berlin, it’s always a recession. That’s what being an artist in Berlin is all about — in this evolutionary cycle, they’re perfectly adapted for survival.”

Berlin’s Poverty Protects It from Downturn at Der Spiegel.