> It's entirely possible that a well unified EU could become a threat > to > U.S. hegemony in the next 20 years. I suppose whether you consider > that for or against is up to you. > > -Kevin
Do you mean militarily? It would take Europe 10 years of huge defense expenditures to even start to catch up, and that doesn't even begin to account for the rise of China. Moreover, I don't see Europe as being interested in such an undertaking. Do you mean economically? The euro is already a good bet in financial markets, that will not change. The constitution is meant to fix some things that have complicated the economics of the union, but some of the changes (such as easing of labor laws) are exactly the things the French voted against. The main challenge to European competitiveness is the individual laws of the member countries. It's easy to pick on France for its pro-labor laws, but look at Italy, for instance. The Economist recently labelled Italy a place where you don't want to be an outside shareholder of a firm, because companies are not run for shareholder benefit. It is only a current court case that is challenging the old notion of business in Italy. There is so much history weighing on these countries that it is tough to get enough momentum to change things as dramatically as they need to change in order to stay competitive in the future. Take outsourcing. With U.S. labor laws, it is easy for a company to move jobs offshore, but it is also easy for a company to change its mind and move those jobs back. That kind of labor market flexibility will be key to global competitiveness in the next few decades. Do you mean culturally? Europe is already the center of haute couture, and the U.S. is the center of pop culture. I don't see that changing anytime soon. Having said all that, I hope things come together eventually, and that it becomes easier to move between the U.S. and European job markets, because I would like to live in Europe again at some point, either in Spain or Italy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Find out how CFTicket can increase your company's customer support efficiency by 100% http://www.houseoffusion.com/banners/view.cfm?bannerid=49 Message: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=i:5:159246 Archives: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/threads.cfm/5 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/lists.cfm/link=s:5 Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5 Donations & Support: http://www.houseoffusion.com/tiny.cfm/54
