The UK Labour party looks at EU-style social spending while Christine Lagarde warns about its problems. Recent UK budget plans show government spending will hit 45pc of GDP - a level thats only happened during major crisis like the covid-19 outbreak
Our productivity growth in Europe is progressively slowing which means that our ability to generate income is diminishing
The aging population creates big issues: Spain Germany and France have more than 1/5th of people over-65 (Italy has even more). By early-2040s predictions show one-third of Italians will be seniors; this means huge pension costs. UK faces similar issues with its triple-lock system which makes benefits grow faster than tax income
Tech-wise Europe is falling behind. In the last two decades US productivity grew twice as fast as euro-zone: Americas work-hour output went up 25pc while Europe got just 13pc. The UK did even worse with less than 10pc growth. Here are the worlds top companies by size:
- Apple (US tech)
- Nvidia (US chips)
- Microsoft (US tech)
- Alphabet (US tech)
- Amazon (US tech)
European industry faces new-world problems. German car makers cant beat Chinese e-cars prices; fashion brands worry about US tax changes. Donald Trumpʼs border tax ideas could hit companies like LVMH hard. The biggest EU tech firm - SAP sits at just 37th place globally
Europe risks getting stuck in old tech while US leads digital progress. Only 4 of top-50 tech companies come from Europe showing how far behind itʼs falling in modern business growth