The European Union is a remarkable achievement that now faces its most threatening crisis. The reason for both is the same: Its insistence through the years on combining ambition and ambiguity. Theoretically dedicated from the outset to “ever-closer union,” member governments never settled on what that might mean, or bothered too much about whether their citizens would […]
Will the eurozone crisis end in 2013, or will it drag on throughout the year, and perhaps even deteriorate anew? This is likely to be not only the crucial question for the European Union’s further development, but also a key issue affecting the performance of the global economy. While the EU clearly needs internal reforms, two […]
This month, the United States National Intelligence Council released a sobering report entitled Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds. Most important, according to the authors, if current trends continue, Asia could soon surpass North America and Europe in global power. It will have a higher GDP, larger population, higher military spending, and more technological investment. In this […]
The European Central Bank has managed to calm the markets with its promise of unlimited purchases of eurozone government bonds, because it effectively assured bondholders that the taxpayers and pensioners of the eurozone’s still-sound economies would, if necessary, shoulder the repayment burden. Although the ECB left open how this would be carried out, its commitment […]
Has the eurozone crisis ended? Many politicians in Europe, including France’s president François Hollande, seem to think so. Well, not so fast. Far from ending, the crisis is yet to reach its most difficult phase. It is easy to see why politicians claim the crisis is over. Greece has just been promised another €50bn, provided it accepts […]
Multinationals operating in China have been setting up factories deep in the interior in search of affordable labor. The drawback: These plants can be more than a thousand kilometers (621 miles) from the coast. For companies exporting to Europe—still one of the largest markets for Chinese goods—shipping by air from Chongqing or other inland cities […]
Europe’s leaders are starting to talk, cautiously, about economic recovery. “Growth is expected to pick up in the second half of 2012 and gather speed in 2013,” Olli Rehn, the European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, wrote in a Dec. 10 column in the Financial Times. Sounds encouraging—but Europe Inc. isn’t buying it. From steelmakers […]
A referendum on Britain’s EU membership is likely. And if the country secedes, others could soon follow its example. Read Here – The European
Not again! Just 13 months ago, European heads of state and government joined forces to usher Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi into retirement. Chancellor Angela Merkel and then-French President Nicolas Sarkozy marshalled all of their persuasive powers to clear they way for a reform government in Rome under the leadership of Mario Monti. Now, with Prime […]
BRITAIN has never been too keen on tying the knot with Europe. It sat aside in the 1950s as Germany, France, Italy and the Benelux countries forged a single market in coal and steel, which became a broader common market. It eventually joined, in 1973, largely because Europe seemed to be where the money was. […]
looking beyond borders 