https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/11/18/european-union-economy-trump-tariffs/

Quote:

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PARIS Spend a little time in Europe, and it's easy to be dazzled by the veneer of progress that has been made in wiping away borders and coordinating regulations governing food, consumer products and other staples of daily life.
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But look more closely, and what comes into focus is a continent that remains deeply and self-defeatingly atomized despite seven decades of striving for cohesion, starved for investment even as its major economies stagnate, and hamstrung by regulation as competitors thrive by innovation.

Now, Donald Trump's return has delivered a jolt of shock therapy to Europeans already grappling with anemic economies, impotent leaders and rising populism...

The president-elect is hostile to the very idea of Europe as an unshakable ally whose health and security are bound up with U.S. power and prestige. "Our allies treat us actually worse than our so-called enemies," he said in September at a campaign event in Wisconsin. "In the military, we protect them, and then they screw us on trade. We're not going to let it happen anymore."

It could be devastating for the continent in its current state weak, querulous and increasingly ill-equipped to compete. Dreading the fallout for industries and consumers, the European Union is preparing tit-for-tat retaliatory duties. Few believe it enjoys the upper hand.

Yet the Trump effect could go either way. Rather than banding together, the continent might be further riven by countries pleading with Washington for favorable treatment.
In a globalized economy dominated by the behemoths of the United States and China, fragmentation is an impediment to competition. Yet across Europe, major markets remain largely fractured along national lines.
Underinvestment is a major driver of Europe's frailty. French President Emmanuel Macron and other major European leaders, alarmed that nearly $320 billion in European savings is invested annually in the United States, have pressed for a capital markets union that would channel more cash to European companies.

"Europe can die," he warned in April.

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Or, you could decide that your future lay in much closer ties to the US economic model instead of maintaining 27 different markets for everything. Imagine embracing the dynamic US economic free trade model instead of your politically driven agendas. Imagine reforming your welfare states.

the most cool guy said:

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If they're so worried, they can just do whatever Trump tells them to do, and then they'll have nothing to worry about.

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They're busy de-industrializing thanks to Biden's proxy-war with Russia. Way to go, Euro's.

Europe is rightly terrified of dealing with this guy again. He was Reagan's iron fist and Trump's iron fist last time. Easily the most underrated and most successful appointment of Trump's last admin.

Robert Lighthizer. He gives no f's and he is going to be either Treasure Secretary or some other role in charge of trade policy again. He is pure America First and we make the rules, if you don't like it we will crush you like a grape.

aggie93 said:

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Europe is rightly terrified of dealing with this guy again. He was Reagan's iron fist and Trump's iron fist last time. Easily the most underrated and most successful appointment of Trump's last admin.

Robert Lighthizer. He gives no f's and he is going to be either Treasure Secretary or some other role in charge of trade policy again. He is pure America First and we make the rules, if you don't like it we will crush you like a grape.

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Macron and Trudeau should be among the first to feel his wrath.

UTExan said:

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the most cool guy said:

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If they're so worried, they can just do whatever Trump tells them to do, and then they'll have nothing to worry about.

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They're terrified about losing a welfare state. Decades ago, in grad school, a fellow student from France told me directly that her fellow French were "lazy" compared to the US and reforming their system was politically impossible.

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If you just scratch the surface of the French economic system you will find its built off of controlling about a third of Africa. The French Foreign Legion is the muscle that keeps several strongmen in place. They have two currencies they force the locals to use. The currency manipulation and owned governments allows for France to extract all the natural resources they use at well below market prices.

Uranium for example, powers french reactors, but is more or less taken at extraction cost + the money needed to keep dictators in power + any money spent on violence conducted by the legion.

RAB87 said:

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aggie93 said:

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Europe is rightly terrified of dealing with this guy again. He was Reagan's iron fist and Trump's iron fist last time. Easily the most underrated and most successful appointment of Trump's last admin.

Robert Lighthizer. He gives no f's and he is going to be either Treasure Secretary or some other role in charge of trade policy again. He is pure America First and we make the rules, if you don't like it we will crush you like a grape.

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Macron and Trudeau should be among the first to feel his wrath.

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No doubt Canada and Mexico are going to have a really fun time the next 4 years. He is going to to remind both of them who depends on who and that they can either do as they are told or else the US can absolutely make their lives hell and they can't do a damn thing about it. That's the thing about Lighthizer, he understands leverage and doesn't care about playing nice. Either you are an ally or not. He is not afraid at all to make sure these folks understand just how much they benefit from the US and how he isn't interested in giving it away for free. He knows how to hurt them in their soft spots and has no hesitation in doing so.

Of course the real key is that in those countries the population knows the US is the big stick and they have no desire to be on our bad side, not when you have someone who likes to make examples out of those who get out of line. They also know the options without the US suck and are far less trustworthy.

Madman said:

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UTExan said:

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the most cool guy said:

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If they're so worried, they can just do whatever Trump tells them to do, and then they'll have nothing to worry about.

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They're terrified about losing a welfare state. Decades ago, in grad school, a fellow student from France told me directly that her fellow French were "lazy" compared to the US and reforming their system was politically impossible.

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If you just scratch the surface of the French economic system you will find its built off of controlling about a third of Africa. The French Foreign Legion is the muscle that keeps several strongmen in place. They have two currencies they force the locals to use. The currency manipulation and owned governments allows for France to extract all the natural resources they use at well below market prices.

Uranium for example, powers french reactors, but is more or less taken at extraction cost + the money needed to keep dictators in power + any money spent on violence conducted by the legion.

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This. It's why francophone African countries are calling France out on this.

UTExan said:

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Madman said:

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UTExan said:

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the most cool guy said:

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If they're so worried, they can just do whatever Trump tells them to do, and then they'll have nothing to worry about.

---

They're terrified about losing a welfare state. Decades ago, in grad school, a fellow student from France told me directly that her fellow French were "lazy" compared to the US and reforming their system was politically impossible.

---

If you just scratch the surface of the French economic system you will find its built off of controlling about a third of Africa. The French Foreign Legion is the muscle that keeps several strongmen in place. They have two currencies they force the locals to use. The currency manipulation and owned governments allows for France to extract all the natural resources they use at well below market prices.

Uranium for example, powers french reactors, but is more or less taken at extraction cost + the money needed to keep dictators in power + any money spent on violence conducted by the legion.

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This. It's why francophone African countries are calling France out on this.

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If the UN was actually an organization that fought for justice, France's violence against Africa would be one of the priority topics.

But the UN enables evil, it doesn't fight it.

UTExan said:

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Madman said:

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UTExan said:

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the most cool guy said:

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If they're so worried, they can just do whatever Trump tells them to do, and then they'll have nothing to worry about.

---

They're terrified about losing a welfare state. Decades ago, in grad school, a fellow student from France told me directly that her fellow French were "lazy" compared to the US and reforming their system was politically impossible.

---

If you just scratch the surface of the French economic system you will find its built off of controlling about a third of Africa. The French Foreign Legion is the muscle that keeps several strongmen in place. They have two currencies they force the locals to use. The currency manipulation and owned governments allows for France to extract all the natural resources they use at well below market prices.

Uranium for example, powers french reactors, but is more or less taken at extraction cost + the money needed to keep dictators in power + any money spent on violence conducted by the legion.

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This. It's why francophone African countries are calling France out on this.

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One more comment

It took me a long time to figure out how Schlumberger was larger and more profitable than US companies like Halliburton and Baker.

But after you figure out the French state awards Schlumberger contracts in Africa and other areas of influence and allows them to operate in a way US companies could only dream about, it all makes sense.

Tie defense to trade and bend them over the barrel.

Which means tear up NATO and start negotiating with those covering their defense obligations first and with better trade opportunities.

Madman said:

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UTExan said:

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Madman said:

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UTExan said:

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the most cool guy said:

---

If they're so worried, they can just do whatever Trump tells them to do, and then they'll have nothing to worry about.

---

They're terrified about losing a welfare state. Decades ago, in grad school, a fellow student from France told me directly that her fellow French were "lazy" compared to the US and reforming their system was politically impossible.

---

If you just scratch the surface of the French economic system you will find its built off of controlling about a third of Africa. The French Foreign Legion is the muscle that keeps several strongmen in place. They have two currencies they force the locals to use. The currency manipulation and owned governments allows for France to extract all the natural resources they use at well below market prices.

Uranium for example, powers french reactors, but is more or less taken at extraction cost + the money needed to keep dictators in power + any money spent on violence conducted by the legion.

---

This. It's why francophone African countries are calling France out on this.

---

If the UN was actually an organization that fought for justice, France's violence against Africa would be one of the priority topics.

But the UN enables evil, it doesn't fight it.

---

The UN is the most "legally" corrupt organization in the world. As long as the money (especially ours) keeps on flowing into their pockets, they do not care. This, as well as their hypocrisy, we should have kicked them out a long time ago for they serve no purpose.

Their own worst enemy with their "Green initiatives".

Europe = aging has been apartment dwellers who squandered the sacrifices of superior generations. They now caretake the monuments of former glory for Mississippi wages while committing cultural suicide by importing foreign serfs to squeeze out a final couple decades before their immolation.

They've failed at every level yet maintain the audacity to look down their noses at us.

I'd love to see a Col. Jessep rant aimed at Europe.

Not worried. EU will fracture to save their own butts. No one can survive without trading with the US but who really needs to trade with Greece? Or Italy? Or Spain? Etc?

UTExan said:

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https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/11/18/european-union-economy-trump-tariffs/

Quote:

---

PARIS Spend a little time in Europe, and it's easy to be dazzled by the veneer of progress that has been made in wiping away borders and coordinating regulations governing food, consumer products and other staples of daily life.
---
But look more closely, and what comes into focus is a continent that remains deeply and self-defeatingly atomized despite seven decades of striving for cohesion, starved for investment even as its major economies stagnate, and hamstrung by regulation as competitors thrive by innovation.

Now, Donald Trump's return has delivered a jolt of shock therapy to Europeans already grappling with anemic economies, impotent leaders and rising populism...

The president-elect is hostile to the very idea of Europe as an unshakable ally whose health and security are bound up with U.S. power and prestige. "Our allies treat us actually worse than our so-called enemies," he said in September at a campaign event in Wisconsin. "In the military, we protect them, and then they screw us on trade. We're not going to let it happen anymore."

It could be devastating for the continent in its current state weak, querulous and increasingly ill-equipped to compete. Dreading the fallout for industries and consumers, the European Union is preparing tit-for-tat retaliatory duties. Few believe it enjoys the upper hand.

Yet the Trump effect could go either way. Rather than banding together, the continent might be further riven by countries pleading with Washington for favorable treatment.
In a globalized economy dominated by the behemoths of the United States and China, fragmentation is an impediment to competition. Yet across Europe, major markets remain largely fractured along national lines.
Underinvestment is a major driver of Europe's frailty. French President Emmanuel Macron and other major European leaders, alarmed that nearly $320 billion in European savings is invested annually in the United States, have pressed for a capital markets union that would channel more cash to European companies.

"Europe can die," he warned in April.

---

Or, you could decide that your future lay in much closer ties to the US economic model instead of maintaining 27 different markets for everything. Imagine embracing the dynamic US economic free trade model instead of your politically driven agendas. Imagine reforming your welfare states.

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