PROBLEMS / REQUIREMENTS - FOCUS ON DEINDUSTRIALISATION
De-industrialization is the loss of manufacturing jobs - Trump's rust belt from 80s/90s, Obama's Detroit after the 2008, now Germany's turn from sanctions cutting off cheap Russian energy and raw materials.
Not just sanctions, rising interest rates must also be a factor as Germany is an export-led economy and now its products are more expensive than the competition. Though demand for the Euro from EU trade partners makes the Euro cheaper than would be the Deutschmark.
To sum up, troubles in manufacturing arise from rising costs: energy and raw materials import prices, interest rates and thirdly not forgetting the Green Deal - however you see the benefits, you have to agree Go Green is way costly.
ECONOMIC - KPIs
It's about the manufacture of finished goods: aviation, cars & parts; chemicals; electrical; machine tools.
It's measured in GDP and employment.
It's targets are relative - Germany's and the EU's loss is presumably America's and China's gain as the jobs must go somewhere, even in a recession?
ROOT CAUSES
It is looking like a near permanent loss and that's disastrous for Germany and so for the EU.
The EU is responsible for applying these sanctions, the ECB for monetary policy, and the EU again for the Energy Transition and for Industrial Policy.
Europe is allied to the US, but also aligned to. It has no goals of its own, little real independence. That's what being vassalised means and that's why the UK left - nobody wants to be a dogsbody.
WHAT TO DO?
To return to dynamic growth, the EU could set a goal of having the largest GDP of the three trading blocks by 2043.
Just planning out the strategic consequences for political independence and for industrial policy would dynamise and invigorate Europe's economies.
Free Movement of Labour should be delegated to a member-level decision and the UK could be invited to rejoin.
Change on this scale would require replacing the political elite with a younger class of aspiring - can this be done within the confines of late-stage "Liberal democracy"?
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