EU Politico (May 27)
“Phew. Turns out the bark of Europe’s far right is worse than its bite. Yes, illiberal parties did well in France and Italy, Poland, Hungary and beyond. But overall no better than expected, and in some cases worse so…. That’s good news for Europe’s democratic parties and even better news for the European Union.”
Tags: Democratic parties, EU, Europe, Expected, France, Hungary, Illiberal parties, Italy, Poland
Bloomberg (May 23)
“Japan is beginning a major and unprecedented exercise.” Though “new immigration will help keep Japan’s economy and pension system afloat, it will inevitably introduce social strains.” Time alone will tell “whether the country’s culture and institutions will be able to learn from Europe’s experience and manage a smooth transition, or whether immigration will spark a nativist backlash that closes the country off once again.”
Tags: Backlash, Culture, Economy, Europe, Immigration, Japan, Nativist, Pension system, Social strains
Reuters (March 25)
“Downbeat data from the US and Europe, combined with a cautious tone from the Federal Reserve, frightened investors last week. The first inversion in the US bond yield curve since 2007 also heightened concerns, by raising fears of a recession in the world’s largest economy.”
Forbes (February 18)
“Drawn by generous incentives and the opportunity to sell directly into a unifying Europe, the car industry became a poster child for inward investment.” Now the survival of this industry in the UK is at stake. Honda’s scheduled plant closing “comes after last month’s announcement of up to 4,500 job losses at Jaguar Land Rover and news that Nissan’s new X-Trail model is to be made in Japan, not Sunderland.” Furthermore, “Toyota and Ford have warned of negative consequences in the case of Britain editing the European Union without a negotiated deal.”
Tags: Car industry, EU, Europe, Ford, Honda, Incentives, Investment, Jaguar Land Rover, Job losses, Nissan, Survival, Toyota, UK
Bloomberg (January 25)
Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is “ridiculous” on many fronts, but France’s recent $57 million fine of Google suggest much worse. If they are merely making “an example of Google,” this suggests “Europe intends to wield these rules — as it does so many others — to punish Silicon Valley giants and protect local rivals.” If on the other hand, they are planning to hit every company with crushing fines, that suggests even worse.
Tags: Crushing fines, Europe, France, GDPR, Google, Local rivals, Protect, Punish, Ridiculous, Silicon Valley
New York Times (December 6)
“If Emmanuel Macron survives this crisis, something good may come out of it. He, along with French and European elites, could draw the lesson from the revolt of the Yellow Vests and find a way to govern with the people, not against them. That is, after all, what democracy is about.”
Tags: Crisis, Democracy, Elites, Europe, France, Govern, Macron, People, Revolt, Survives, Yellow Vests
The Economist (November 24)
“American families are increasingly hard to distinguish from European ones.” Though the economy has improved, “births continue to drop. America’s total fertility rate, which can be thought of as the number of children the average woman will bear, has fallen from 2.12 to 1.77. It is now almost exactly the same as England’s rate, and well below that of France.”
Wall Street Journal (November 18)
“As the British government convulses over Theresa May’s Brexit deal, its negotiating partners in Europe are watching with bewilderment and anxiety, tempered by a flickering hope that the U.K. Parliament might yet decide the pain of Brexit isn’t worth it.”
Tags: Anxiety, Bewilderment, Brexit, Convulses, Europe, Government, Hope, May, UK
Reuters (November 10)
“The common element” in the U.S. and Europe “is a revolt, greater or lesser in extent, against rapid change, against liberal elites and against a loss of identity – white, in the main, but also of settled communities of past waves of immigrants. Populists, right to signal these concerns, are wrong to claim that answers are simple. But arguments of complexity are, in an impatient time, suspect. Divisions, not only in the United States, presently deepen.”
Tags: Arguments, Common, Complexity, Divisions, Europe, Identity, Immigrants, Impatient, Liberal elites, Populists, Rapid change, Revolt, U.S.
New York Times (October 31)
Angela Merkel “is doing the right thing in stepping down…. The best leaders are those who know when it’s time to exit.” But Europe will lose a “remarkable” leader who was “compassionate when hearts grew cold, committed to unity when others abandoned it.”
Tags: Compassionate, Europe, Exit, Germany, Heart, Leader, Merkel, Remarkable, Unity