European growth: myth, reality and necessity (Part I)

Summary:

Liberals and neoconservatives concur that the idea of a distinctive European model is an anachronism. Yet their common view that the European economy is chronically sick is exaggerated and distorted for ideological reasons. Contrasting the liberal view that Europe lags far behind the US because it is inherently unproductive, the reality is that Europe has experienced far more productivity gains than the US over the last 30 years. With respect to the neoconservative vision that Europe's 'Kantian' delusion is relegating it to geopolitical irrelevance, this would only be true if the trajectory of Europe stopped dead in its tracks and Europeans united to collectively place their heads in the sand. Priorities in Europe have indeed been different than in the US over the past decades; European priorities for the future should be modified. Until now, Europeans have not closed the per capita income gap with the US. However, the disaster diagnosis of Europe is far off the mark. Europe may well begin to converge with the US in the future.