Europe must again confront the forces of illiberalism

Commentary feature which begins: It is economic performance - not the European Union budget or any proposed constitution - that will determine the fate of the 'European Project'. After all, Hitler came to power in 1933 due to 'ordinary economic voting behaviour' when the mainstream parties' economic agendas were unconvincing, not because a majority of German voters then embraced Nazi ideology. Similar feelings of frustration about economic change without evident benefits are rife in western Europe today. The writer, a senior fellow at the Institute for International Economics, is author of a new book, Reform in a Rich Country: Germany