Not immune against US germs

The Austrian daily Der Standard examines Europe's dependency on the US economy: "There is one area where the US is still leader of the pack: stock markets all over the world as well as global business activity are still determined by developments in the world's largest economy. Europe in particular has been trying in vain for three decades to remain unaffected by the economic slumps its transatlantic partner regularly experiences. ... On top of this, the current economic policies of the three major Eurozone states Germany, France and Italy are decelerating rather than accelerating the economy. Higher pay demands ... are slowly but surely ... cancelling out the effects of the drastic cost-cutting in German industry ... But Europe's politicians must recognise that they themselves are to blame for the vulnerability of Europe's economy because they have not done their homework regarding boosting competition and productivity."

» full article (external link, German)
More from the press review on the subject » Economic Policy, » Europe, » U.S., » Western Europe
All available articles from » Eric Frey

» To the complete press review of Friday, May 16, 2008