Meaningless Europe?

Abstract

Many economists, politicians and strategy analysts notice that the rise of China or emergence of BRIC countries as a new powerhouse may pose a threat to Europe's or U.S. role in the global economy. But many also argue that the standard of living in Europe can be preserved amid Europe's thought leadership, ability to innovate and create new products and services. Middle and low income countries are seen as the FDI target and the source of cheap labor. Author deeply disagrees with such a view and presents evidence that without major reforms Europe is making rapid progress towards becoming meaningless in the global economy of the 21st century. While Europe is stuck in never ending debates about its future, Asian countries are making a rapid progress by making strategic alliances with African countries, which is a very sound investment in the future relationship capital. Asia is also making rapid progress in building other parts of intellectual capital, and is very likely to become the global innovation centre in the coming decades. Finally, Asia is making efforts to develop deep and well functioning financial markets, which will leverage the region's growth potential. By making the analogy to the 20th century growth divergence between U.S. and Argentina, author calls on Europe's authorities to wake up, if Europe does not want to become the Argentina of the 21st century.

Keywords: Europe, Chindia, Chinafrica, vision, innovation

JEL Classification: D20, D4, D60, D70, E61