14.3.05

O atraso económico europeu

(...) European and American economic policies have been producing consistently divergent results for more than two decades.

Over the time span of this study, the U.S. and the mature European economies should have had roughly the same capabilities to generate growth, jobs and rising living standards. It’s important to remember that these kinds of differential growth rates didn’t happen because of any one event, or any one policy decision. The effects of individual policies, over short periods of time, are sometimes difficult to determine. What the data highlight are cumulative effects of what are at least two different policy orientations. That’s probably stating the obvious, but if the EU wants to close the gap, an honest analysis of differences in economic policies between the EU and U.S. might suggest what’s behind the observed differences in outcomes.