from Hacker News

Europe's biggest problem: It is falling way behind America's powerhouse economy

by blinding-streak on 6/14/24, 12:46 PM with 56 comments

• by wiz21c on 6/14/24, 12:59 PM

  > Tech entrepreneurs struggle to navigate 27 different markets with different regulations, authorities, standards and requirements

  And cultures... And this ain't gonna change any time soon...

• by freitzkriesler2 on 6/14/24, 2:13 PM

  Europe decided to value workers rights' and quality of life over the ownership class' demands of efficiency.

  This is an unpopular take that will probably give me a few downd00ts but the reasoning is obvious to anyone that knows how executives think.

  Businesses are like water, they will go the path of least resistance to make a buck up to and including going to low labor rights locales.

• by mschuster91 on 6/14/24, 2:07 PM

  Who would have thought? The US pumps up its economy with the IRA and other debt based spending, China pumps up its economy with its ridiculous reserves of US dollars... and Europe's nominal head has no real power (vdL), and the countries are headed by an airhead who can talk but not act (France), buffoons (UK), incompetents wanking off on austerity (Germany) and far-right populists with a country whose economy is in shambles (Italy).

  No wonder we're falling behind, progress requires investment. And our rich elites are too stingy to actually invest into progress, they more like to invest into lobbying in order to keep the status quo.

• by jacknews on 6/14/24, 2:23 PM

  Personally I think this just shows how flawed the GPD measure is - it's really just a measure of money going around, volume of trade, not really wealth.

  What do facebook and similar tech giants, which contribute significantly to US GDP, really, actually, contribute to our collective wealth, as in improved material living conditions and capacity?

• by freehorse on 6/14/24, 3:08 PM

  The article misses an important part of how energy sanctions against russia affected europe. It mentions increased energy cost but it misses one of the main reasons of the big increases last years. The energy sanctions probably affected europe itself more negatively than russia. EU needed an independent foreign policy since several years ago, instead of following USA's policy blindly even in parts where it was definitely against its interests, and thus getting into such deadlock situations. Unless it defines its own geopolitical interests more clearly eu politicians cannot claim that "they know what needs to be done" because they clearly don't currently, not because they are stupid but because what needs to be done requires a different context, with better defined interests and international relationships, than the current one to plan upon.

  PS The original title "Why Europe is falling way behind America’s powerhouse economy" is much better and more concise. In fact the edited title actually confused me in the beginning.

  > Otherwise please use the original title, unless it is misleading or linkbait; don't editorialize.

• by throwaway4736 on 6/14/24, 1:57 PM

  Huh. My understanding based on article after article talking to the average voter is that the American economy is garbage, that milk is now $37, and the only way to reverse it is to elect a convicted felon.

• by blinding-streak on 6/14/24, 12:47 PM

  https://archive.ph/ioR93

• by rapsey on 6/14/24, 2:02 PM

  What if the US is simply overvalued? Since covid it is quite staggering how expensive the US has gotten compared to the rest of the world.

• by 1234letshaveatw on 6/14/24, 2:05 PM

  It isn't a problem if the EU continues to levy fines on the innovators. It is a symbiotic relationship

• by jillesvangurp on 6/14/24, 2:37 PM

  Inflation is a thing though. My money is worth a lot less in the US than it is in Europe. Rents are higher. Restaurants are more expensive. Food and produce in the supermarkets are more expensive. And so on.

  The US has created a lot of inflation through its defense budget, things like the inflation reduction act (which added a trillion $ or so to the economy, which is ironic), etc. And people commonly take loans to buy cars, houses, etc. Which all adds to inflation. It creates a lot of money but not a lot of wealth or well being.

  Which is why despite being so rich, poverty levels are substantial in the US, medical care is expensive/unaffordable, and illness is a potential bankrupting event for a lot of people. Life expectancy is low and dropping (relative to other countries). Literacy and education levels are at an all time low and obesity is a national decease associate with a class of people that don't have good access to quality produce or health care.

• by hulitu on 6/14/24, 2:35 PM

  > Europe's biggest problem: It is falling way behind America's powerhouse economy

  That was the aim. EU had started to become a nail in the back of US so US is working on it.

• by chucke1992 on 6/14/24, 2:09 PM

  Now imagine how far behind Europe would be without getting money by fining foreign companies lol

• by CPLX on 6/14/24, 1:59 PM

  I’m not in charge of Europe but if I was, I would consider being lectured by neoliberal icons like Fareed Zakaria and told that tech entrepreneurs would prefer that I stop regulating them to be a sign that I am definitely on the right track.

• by Culonavirus on 6/14/24, 3:01 PM

  The EU is too busy with important stuff like curb stomping fossil fuels, plastics, nuclear energy, combustion engines, farming, old buildings, old cars, entrepreneurship, free speech, meritocracy, traditionalism, memes, anything russian... We don't have time to care about petty crap like "the economy". We're gonna be climate-neutral by 2050, baby! (whatever that means, I'm sure China & co will be right behind us)

  Well, it could be worse, I guess - we could be Canada.

• by lotharcable2 on 6/14/24, 2:19 PM

  One of the major benefits of being a American is that even though our politicians are garbage and the science of central banking in the USA is to economics what mercury pills and blood letting is to medical science... Everybody else has at least slightly more incompetent leaders and policies.

  Take the dollar, for instance. One of the major reasons it is still dominance reserve currency is because major contracts in other countries often peg the value of the contract to the dollar rather then local currency. Even if the contracts have nothing to do with international trade or USA. The reason for this is because the local currencies are far more likely to fluctuate in value thus putting long term projects at financial risk.

  This sort of thing isn't so much because central bankers in USA are brilliant, but more to do with that central bankers in other countries are far stupider.

  Since the 1970s the USA financial policy is one of exporting debt in exchange for importing goods. Bizzarely the rest of the world has allowed this to work. The upside is that this allows Americans to benefit from making foreign goods much cheaper for essentially nothing. The downside is that it has made industry in the USA much more unprofitable and thus annihilating it.

  But it continues to work. China continues to use financial manipulation and central control of the economy to produce massive amounts of goods at a great loss to the wealth and well being of the Chinese people, which keeps the USA economy afloat. EU is obsessed with protectionist policies and using their economy to project "soft power" in a bid to maintain some semblance of European Empire-era policy controls over its former colonies... which makes it even less competitive then USA industry. So much so that it is fairly likely that in 50 years people will be trying to go from Europe to Africa to get jobs.

  This isn't what winning looks like. The reason why USA seems like a powerhouse economy compared to EU is because its leaders don't fail as badly.