Economic divide is not just a UK issue

Imagine a country where the south-east is flourishing, with growth above the national average and unemployment below, while the north-east is cursed with out-migration and growth paralysis. Easy, isn't it? Except that last week the country I refer to was celebrating 16 years of reunification, and the areas I mention were behind the Iron Curtain until 1990. This is Germany: in its south-east are the states of Thuringia and Saxony, and in the north-east is Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, between Berlin and the Baltic Sea.