I dont really have time for this, but here goes in miniature. 1) Short term: In 2023 Germany's GDP decreased by .3 percent. Over the course of the year, the European economy saw close to no growth. Long term: Using chained 2015 dollars to minimise the effect of currency fluctuations, the total EU GDP in 2008 was 81 percent of the total in the US. In 2022 it was 73 percent. In terms of cutting edge tech, all 7 of the world's leading tech companies are American; in 2000 the EU had a 25 percent share of the semiconductor market--today it is 8 percent. My numbers, by the way are from the IMF. Yes, the EU is a large market, but it is surely in relative, if not absolute, decline. Glad we agree about the Nato spending.
Thanks for taking time to reply. Here's the IMF chart that shows the basic reality dat mature economies (like mature companies) tend to have lower growth than young upstarts (like Romania or India or Vietnam, Nigeria,...) and that US and EU are on the exact same trajectory (https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/NGDP_RPCH@WEO/EU/EURO/USA). Point is that the US is absolutely a powerhouse (no one in their right mind would deny it) but that doesn't mean there aren't benefits to the US's relationship with the EU either. It's very much a 2-way street.
Frantically busy but one last thought; in terms of data (growth just now, over ten years, and tech and the future)I'd surely rather be the US than the EU. And the EU's lack of growth is a great concern, especially as Germany (the motor) has an economic model is chaos (no more cheap Russian gas inputs, and export to China outputs problematic) that's bust. Saying this, of course mature economies cannot hope to ever grow at the rate of EMs. Its 2 percent (and upwards a bit) or so that's the target . On the plus side, the EU has highly educated people, plenty of great companies, a huge developed market and investment capabilities and can well afford to spend the requisite amount on defence. It is a place worth saving and an ally worth having.
You've mentioned the fact that the Eurozone has barely grown in the last 15-20 years. This is manifestly untrue and I wonder who gave you the numbers you mentioned? Between 2014 and 2023, EU27 had an AVERAGE growth rate of 4.132% with a total growth of 43.96% (EUROSTAT). When looking at PPP (which you really should do in this case since the EU is the second most important FX after the mighty dollar), Both EU AND US lost 'market share' of global GDP to China. In the next few decades, India will probably claim an increasing share of global GDP (while at the same time growing global GDP). Point is that EU is not growing as fast as we would like, but in fact hasn't exactly lagged the US all that much. It's easy to conceive of the EU as a decadent, past-its-sell-by date bureaucratic mess, but it's also factually incorrect. You can't pretend that the EU isn't 1/6 of the world's economy even if they absolutely should increase their contributions to NATO.
I dont really have time for this, but here goes in miniature. 1) Short term: In 2023 Germany's GDP decreased by .3 percent. Over the course of the year, the European economy saw close to no growth. Long term: Using chained 2015 dollars to minimise the effect of currency fluctuations, the total EU GDP in 2008 was 81 percent of the total in the US. In 2022 it was 73 percent. In terms of cutting edge tech, all 7 of the world's leading tech companies are American; in 2000 the EU had a 25 percent share of the semiconductor market--today it is 8 percent. My numbers, by the way are from the IMF. Yes, the EU is a large market, but it is surely in relative, if not absolute, decline. Glad we agree about the Nato spending.
Thanks for taking time to reply. Here's the IMF chart that shows the basic reality dat mature economies (like mature companies) tend to have lower growth than young upstarts (like Romania or India or Vietnam, Nigeria,...) and that US and EU are on the exact same trajectory (https://www.imf.org/external/datamapper/NGDP_RPCH@WEO/EU/EURO/USA). Point is that the US is absolutely a powerhouse (no one in their right mind would deny it) but that doesn't mean there aren't benefits to the US's relationship with the EU either. It's very much a 2-way street.
Frantically busy but one last thought; in terms of data (growth just now, over ten years, and tech and the future)I'd surely rather be the US than the EU. And the EU's lack of growth is a great concern, especially as Germany (the motor) has an economic model is chaos (no more cheap Russian gas inputs, and export to China outputs problematic) that's bust. Saying this, of course mature economies cannot hope to ever grow at the rate of EMs. Its 2 percent (and upwards a bit) or so that's the target . On the plus side, the EU has highly educated people, plenty of great companies, a huge developed market and investment capabilities and can well afford to spend the requisite amount on defence. It is a place worth saving and an ally worth having.
You've mentioned the fact that the Eurozone has barely grown in the last 15-20 years. This is manifestly untrue and I wonder who gave you the numbers you mentioned? Between 2014 and 2023, EU27 had an AVERAGE growth rate of 4.132% with a total growth of 43.96% (EUROSTAT). When looking at PPP (which you really should do in this case since the EU is the second most important FX after the mighty dollar), Both EU AND US lost 'market share' of global GDP to China. In the next few decades, India will probably claim an increasing share of global GDP (while at the same time growing global GDP). Point is that EU is not growing as fast as we would like, but in fact hasn't exactly lagged the US all that much. It's easy to conceive of the EU as a decadent, past-its-sell-by date bureaucratic mess, but it's also factually incorrect. You can't pretend that the EU isn't 1/6 of the world's economy even if they absolutely should increase their contributions to NATO.