The World Cup Caused Germany's Economic Boom
The German government will raise its economic growth forecast for 2006 this week to 2.3 percent from a 1.6 percent estimate made before the June tournament that brought millions of Germans into the streets for public viewing parties.
If confirmed, that would be the economy's best performance since 3.2 percent in 2000, ending a long period of stagnation.
According to researchers, "39 million German households now 'feel' they have an extra 500 euros income each month because of Germany's good run at the World Cup -- totalling nearly 20 billion euros per month."