[t8sr]

This article makes me sad, because:

1) It's completely true that the EU's economic outlook is dire.

2) Most Europeans (I am one) do not want to hear it, will not discuss it and will flag this article to avoid having to think about it.

To an outsider it might be surprising that this isn't on the political agenda at all. People complain about the gradual deterioration of the economy, but the causes are only discussed at the 6th grade level. (Half the population blames everything on immigration and the other half wants to retire at age 55 and ban this computer nonsense.)

Obviously our living standards are only made possible by the fact that our, historically, strong economy has made it possible to import phones and computers from China, produce from South America, tech from the US. But the average European (especially in the West) assumes they are owed these things, and never think about why our purchasing power should be higher than, say, India's. (Or, indeed, why it's dropping compared to the US.)

[loeber]

Author here. Glad it resonated with you :)