Fareed’s take: Europe is unable to keep pace with America

26 comments

1. Agreed.

2. And yet, median wealth in the U.S. is below 12 or 13 European countries namely, but not only, Spain, Italy, France, and… (drum roll) U.k !!

3. TL;DR for those who don’t want to watch the video: Europe is still too divided and needs to wake the fuck up and unite properly if it wants to be competitive.

   Seriously, watch it tho, it’s short and is pretty objective if you ask me. He’s not belittling Europe in any way.

4. Everything he said is true. But some people will dismiss him simply because he’s American and god forbid, anyone criticise our amazing continent.

5. Relative to what? Gun deaths? Car congestion? Obesity? Opioids crisis? Skyrocketing inequalities?

6. Talking about divisons in Europe when half of Americans think the other half is made of pure evil is rich.

   Also, it made me look up the median wealth and the difference between mean and median in the US is astonishing…. no wonder eat the rich is a thing in the US.

7. The [WaPo op-ed](https://old.reddit.com/r/europe/comments/1dftzim/opinion_why_europe_is_falling_way_behind_americas/) was posted here a few days ago.

   As I said in that thread, Europe being too divided is a poor explanation since EU was equally divided back in 2008.

   Pointing out that “EU isn’t a proper single market” isn’t exactly a new take or some genius insight. We all know that. Of course it would be great if all of Europe spoke Norwegian, liked cross country skiing and ate tacos on Fridays. The challenge is always how to get there.

   Finding solutions is way harder than identifying problems.

8. But what is even more important is that the US and The EU have so much more in common than we have differences. In other words, we need each other. Let’s not fuck it up.

9. In terms of what? There are many European countries with higher HDI than the US. The great majority of Europe has better and more affordable healthcare and far less violence/crime stats compared to the States. Still, a bulk of European countries score higher on the PISA too. There are other factors too, like a lower income gap, and higher life expectancy but I suppose Europeans themselves would provide those additional points.

10. Division is hurting us, but I don’t believe it accounts for everything. Some of them I believe are:

    * Americans work more and have less worker rights (we don’t need to copy that) – partly covered in his point about regulations.
    * The US has more natural resources.
    * Disproportionally high evaluation of the tech sector in which the US excels.
    * We further strengthen the US potential by investing (ETFs favouring the already strongest countries which are in the US) and the hegemony of the dollar lets the US take more loans than other countries.

11. Americans only measure success in dollars, not in, quality of life, equality, etc etc.

    Measuring everything in dollars is a cancer on the planet and the minds of its inhabitants.

    Is he wrong about Europe’s military capabilities? Probably not. Would the US allow Europe to rival its military power? Also, probably not.

12. I remember back in 2012 when he said that Russia couldn’t possibly pose a threat to the west.

13. And what’s the problem? We don’t have to aim to be the world’s first superpower, enjoying the title of king of the hill if the americans so wish. As long as we are able to keep a good pace forward without betraying our values, that’s enough for me.

14. The United States is one country. Europe is many. That alone makes it near impossible to keep pace.

15. America’s Human development index is higher than rich european countries like france/austria. So its not only economy/money/innovation/science where US is ahead.

    Just see the migration from EU to US and vice versa and see where people are migrating to. You have your answer there.

16. I’m really starting to wonder what is going on when an American dude wishes the EU more good than many of the MEP elected recently.

17. Unfortunately he’s not wrong.

    The U.S. is the main beneficiary of brain-drain and attracts all the driven & ambitious people.

18. Nobody can compete with the US. The US has interests throughout the world because it is the sole global superpower. It has created vast wealth through imperialism and exploiting her people. 

    I’d rather live in a place that puts people first. The EU doesn’t not succeed in that goal, and this is why it should be criticized. Challenging American financial and military hegemony is impossible unless we are willing to break eggs. Europe was remade to play second fiddle by the US through the Marshall plan.

19. Europe has the potential to be unstoppable and unmatched by the rest of powers but for that to happen we not only need to unite further but Russia needs to be part of it

20. There’s no reason to work in EU as a skilled worked, because taxes will eat all your salary.

21. I see lots of comments ultimately kind of dismissing the importance of a dynamic economy because in the end we have a better well-fare state in Europe (by which I think people mean the EU), namely in Healthcare. I mean, that might feel true in some parts of the continent, but I guess most europeans really are unware of the large disparities throughout the continent, be it North South, East West… Probably that accounts for more disparities than within the US. I guess these comparisons from europeans work like comparing Germany in Europe and Alabama in the US… Nonsense. Of course certain concrete things in America are hard to swallow for europeans, like deep rooted cultural issues, the crazy gun access and the lack of good public transportation. It’s a different world in all that… However, Fareed’s point when talking about the economy here is simply the ability to transform good ideas into reality with ease. And he really is on point… Although a dynamic economy does not suffice, it is indispensable for a positive outlook forward.

22. This plagiarist has been been saying the same sh!t for decades now. Baffling that people still think of him as an insightful.

23. Actually Europe has a lot more potential than the USA, as a lot of North America is largely unsuitable for human habitation and agriculture. One of the main problems is we are not one country and we have been fighting each other for thousands of years and still are.

24. The USA also has the highest debt out of all countries, no? Will be interesting how this plays out in the future

25. wait a minute! Europe was always smaller than the US especially financially. Unification would lead to money flowing to the larger countries like Germany and France so its not in members interest to do that..

    the EU is never going to be as large as China or the US

    the EU makes it much easier for members to Trade with each other and that has led to the success that the EU has.

    let me tell you a story there was a thing called the british empire and it was the biggest Empire in the world. the Capital was in London, the second city of empire was Dublin and it was rich with fine houses and all the wealth you would expect from such a city.

    Then the act of Union happened Ireland became part of a union with Britain called the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. And all the rich elites moved to London because that is where all the power and influence was and Dublin became poor it has the most Georgian buildings of any city in UK or Ireland because we were too poor to knock them down and build other buildings the North of the city which used to be the fashionable side of the city became the poorer side of the city the fine houses turned into tenements

    So no, not again.

26. Sa I’m a European who moved to the US, made “real” money, became a US citizen and is no longer living in the US. Owned businesses both in the US and the EU.   

    Europeans, even the ones living in “rich” countries are on average happy with being poor. 2,500 euro per month is a “good” salary after tax. Tax in Europe is just too much. Let’s not even talk about the ridiculous tax policies EU wide that make the car gas the most expensive in the world. Movement is very expensive in general, unless you are fine with being on Busses, trains and stuff (which are comparable in monthly prices to a basic pre-Covid new car lease, insurance and gas in the US actually)  

    nanny state operating on a “Vertrauen is good, aber Kontrolle is better” model kills any attempted innovation. Try opening a company in Europe. From complicated VAT registrations to randomest fees to extremely high costs of compliance, it makes Europe a place particularly difficult to innovate in. Mistakes typically lead to large fines. Something unseen in the US unless you really mess it up.   

    European banking market is just overly ridden with compliance crap and very inert. Getting a mortgage is a “once in a lifetime” kind of an experience. So is everything else. For comparison, I moved 4 times in the US, in 6 years. Had a mortgage every time. Everyone is happy as long as everyone is making money.  

     
    and finally, American healthcare is YEARS AHEAD and MUCH BETTER than anything Europe has to offer. As long as you have good insurance. And good insurance is EASY to come by to if you live in a decent state like Massachusetts (even for the poorest of citizens- FOR FREE).