The Economist (May 30)
“Bail-outs are taking place everywhere. But in Europe they are especially dangerous, because they can undermine economic integration and encourage politicians’ inexhaustible appetite to meddle in industry. Creating a giant, open and competitive market has been one of Europe’s great achievements. In the rush to help business it must not be eroded.”
Tags: Bail-outs, Competitive, Dangerous, Europe, Industry, Integration, Meddle, Politicians, Undermine
Market Watch (May 22)
“Sweden’s policy of keeping schools, restaurants and businesses open while practising social distancing to prevent the coronavirus pandemic from spreading was seen as bold, but now it has now it has the highest deaths per capita in Europe from COVID-19.”
Tags: Businesses, Coronavirus, COVID-19, Deaths, Europe, Pandemic, Prevent, Restaurants, Schools, Social distancing, Sweden
The Local Sweden (May 20)
“It might be appealing to make the conclusion that Sweden has managed to keep the epidemic under control, without having to restrict individuals and businesses or pressing pause on the country’s whole economy to the same extent as elsewhere in Europe. But that would be a dangerous conclusion to draw…. What Sweden cannot teach others is how to stem the pandemic without a high human cost.”
Tags: Conclusion, Dangerous, Economy, Epidemic, Europe, Human cost, Pandemic, Restrict, Sweden
Financial Times (May 19)
In Ireland, “the jobless rate for the under-25s surged to 52.8 per cent in April,” up drastically from 12 per cent in February, and “the hit to young workers was not unique to Ireland.” For example, McKinsey has found that “workers aged 15-24 throughout Europe are almost twice as likely as those aged 25-54 to have jobs at risk’ 41 percent for the young; and 25 percent otherwise.
Bloomberg (April 3)
“The cost of the coronavirus pandemic could be as high as $4.1 trillion, or almost 5% of global gross domestic product, depending on the disease’s spread through Europe, the U.S. and other major economies,” according to the Asian Development Bank.
New York Times (March 13)
“China bought the West time. The West squandered it.” In the U.S. and Europe, the attitude has largely “been bizarrely reactive, if not outright passive… governments in those regions have let pass their best chance to contain the virus’s spread.” Why did “so many countries watch the epidemic unfold for weeks as though it was none of their concern?”
Tags: Bizarre Reactive, China, Epidemic, Europe, Governments, Passive, Spread, Squandered, Time, U.S., Virus
Bloomberg (March 7)
“A second hit could be coming for China’s economy after its initial shock from the coronavirus…. While China has seen new cases of the virus slow,” growing cases in “the U.S. and Europe…could knock a half percentage point off of China’s gross domestic product for the year as demand for Chinese goods slows.”
Financial Times (March 2)
“Europe as a whole, the UK included, should prepare for two foreseeable material economic shocks this year: a spread in the coronavirus and a WTO Brexit.” This may help create “the perfect storm for an economy dependent on exports and global supply chains.”
Tags: Brexit, Coronavirus, Economic shocks, Europe, Exports, Foreseeable, Material, Supply chains, UK, WTO
The Times (January 21)
“While China and Japan are facing increasingly acute problems of ageing societies, it is actually Europe that is grappling with a looming ‘demographic bomb.’”
Tags: Acute problems, Ageing societies, China, Demographic bomb, Europe, Japan, Looming
Economist (January 11)
“The industries that will suffer most from new regulatory barriers to frictionless trade are those like aerospace, cars, chemicals, food and drink, and pharmaceuticals that rely on uninterrupted supply chains across Europe. They are concentrated in the midlands and north—exactly where Mr Johnson won his new Tory majority. If his weakness in the negotiations causes him to lose favour in those areas, his new domestic strength will be at risk.”
Tags: Aerospace, Brexit, Cars, Chemicals, Drink, Europe, Food, Frictionless trade, Johnson, Pharmaceuticals, Regulatory barriers, Supply chains, Tory, Weakness