Bustling

Illustration by David Simonds

The Economist: In contrast to the doom and gloom coming from Europe’s biggest firms, many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are cautiously optimistic. The main umbrella organisation for Germany’s more than 4m SMEs predicts that its members’ sales will contract by only 2% this year. The country’s renowned Mittelstand will therefore outperform the economy as a whole, which the government expects to shrink by 6%.