Wall Street Journal (March 3)
“How in the world did Europe leave itself so vulnerable to Vladimir Putin’s energy extortion?” Less than two decades ago, EU nations “produced more gas than Russia exported. Yet European production has plunged by more than half over the last decade” while Russia “happily filled the supply gap.”
Tags: Energy extortion, EU, Europe, Export, Gas, Plunged, Production, Putin, Russia, Supply gap, Vulnerable
Wall Street Journal (February 10)
European scientists have set a “nuclear-fusion energy world record” and the “findings suggest this approach can be scaled-up for use in power plants.” The experiment successfully “generated 59 megajoules of fusion energy for five seconds,” but “the researchers weren’t able to overcome a major obstacle: generating more energy than they had to put into the experiment.” A scaled-up version looks set to do so as early as 2025. Currently “35 firms globally are racing to be the first to create net-energy machines and to commercialize them by delivering electricity to the power grid.”
Tags: 2025, Commercialize, Electricity, Energy, Europe, Net-energy machines, Nuclear fusion, Obstacle, Power grid, Power plants, Scientists, World record
Wall Street Journal (February 1)
“Despite record-high case numbers, the U.K. and other governments across Europe responded to Omicron with lighter restrictions than any previous wave of the virus, allowing businesses to remain open.” Moreover, individuals and businesses have “adapted to restrictions, minimizing the effects.” As a result, economic growth in Europe has slowed far less than during previous surges.
Tags: Businesses, Cases, Economic growth, Europe, High, Individuals, Omicron, Open, Record, Restrictions, Slowed, U.K., Virus
Wall Street Journal (December 3)
“Wages are going gangbusters in the U.S.—elsewhere, not so much.” In Australia and Japan, “pay growth remains anemic… despite labor shortages.” Nor do wages appear to be rapidly accelerating in Europe, all of which is “easing pressure on their central banks to raise interest rates.”
Tags: Anemic, Australia, Central banks, Europe, Gangbusters, Interest rates, Japan, Labor shortages, Pay growth, U.S., Wages
The Economist (November 27)
The EU is currently “recording nearly a quarter of a million cases a day,” its highest levels ever, and the WHO has warned “that 700,000 more Europeans could die by March.” Eventually, “covid-19 will probably settle down as a seasonal disease, a lethal threat to the elderly and the poor in health, but to everyone else mostly a nuisance. However, as Europe is discovering, getting there will be perilous.”
Tags: Cases, COVID-19, Die, Elderly, EU, Europe, Health, Highest, Lethal threat, March, Nuisance, Poor, Seasonal disease, WHO
The Atlantic (November 20)
“The question facing governments in Europe and elsewhere is which approach—carrot versus stick—will prove the most effective. By singling out the unvaccinated, Austria may succeed in increasing its vaccination rate, but it also runs the risk of driving vaccine skepticism even further.”
Tags: Approach, Austria, Carrot, Effective, Europe, Governments, Skepticism, Stick, Succeed, Unvaccinated, Vaccination rate
Financial Times (October 8)
“High levels of inflation could last longer than expected, senior central bankers in Europe have warned, signalling that persistent supply-chain bottlenecks and soaring energy costs could advance a tightening of monetary policy.”
Tags: Bottlenecks, Central bankers, Energy costs, Europe, Expected, Inflation, Persistent, Supply chain, Tightening, Warned
Washington Post (September 25)
“After dominating Germany and, indeed, Europe for so long, Ms. Merkel leaves a legacy of sober, patient leadership, in which she both articulated and modeled democratic values. This was especially important at times when the leaders of other Western nations… did not.” The impact of her departure will be widely felt as “the world’s need for strong champions and exemplars of democracy is greater than ever.”
Tags: Champions, Democracy, Democratic values, Dominating, Europe, Exemplars, Germany, Leadership, Legacy, Merkel, Need, Patient, Sober
Institutional Investor (September 9)
“The pandemic has made Europe’s top executives smarter… and humbler. From supply-chain issues to unforeseen social and cultural hurdles, business leaders in Europe and around the world have learned hard and valuable lessons over the last two years.”
Tags: Business, Cultural, Europe, Humbler, Hurdles, Leaders, Pandemic, Smarter, Social, Supply chain, Unforeseen
Bloomberg (September 1)
“European equities advanced the most in a month on Wednesday as investors bet the global economic rebound would persist even as central banks prepare to scale back support.” August marked the seventh consecutive month of advances for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index, its “longest winning streak since 2013.”
Tags: Advanced, Central banks, Economic, Equities, Europe, Investors, Rebound, Stoxx 600, Winning streak