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Pastimes : Let's Talk About Our Feelings!!! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Grainne who wrote (93477)	1/13/2005 12:22:53 AM
From: Oeconomicus	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 108807

"This author seems to belive Europe will overtake America economically. Does anyone have an opinion?" The EU is certainly an economic power, but some of its biggest members (Germany in particular and i think France, too) are rather sick at the moment. They need to do something to stimulate domestic demand if they hope to get their economies growing and unemployment down. If Germany and France can bring about some labor market reforms, as some there are trying to do, then that would help. They are stifled by overly powerful unions and, as your article suggested, socialist "nanny state" policies. You also have a problem in much of Europe of shrinking populations, even with immigration. I don't recall the exact figures, but there was a study in the news last year some time that said, roughly, that "old Europe" nations like Italy, Germany and France are projected to lose something like half their populations this century. I think much of the old Soviet block is shrinking as well. Puts a bit of a damper on economic growth, I think. In "new Europe", there are several countries that are way ahead of us on tax reform (having gone to greatly simplified flat tax schemes), are outperforming most of the world economically and, if memory serves, ranked above us (and certainly above France) on the WSJ's recent "economic freedom" ratings. That's where the economic strength will come from, especially if "old Europe" fails to reform meaningfully. JMO.