What’s good 👍 about Mario Draghi’s report - and what’s not so good.
Dr. Draghi’s diagnosis: Go big or go home
The Draghi-report vividly documents how Europe is quickly falling behind competitors like the U.S. or China in terms of innovation and productivity growth. Especially in key future sectors like artificial intelligence, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology, the U.S. is leaving the European Union in the dust. Europe, on the other hand, excels in old industries where demand grows more slowly and technological breakthroughs are rarer. Consequently, productivity growth on the old continent is lower. Thirty years ago, Europe's productivity stood at 95% of the American level. Today, it is under 80%. And keeps trending down. Ouch!
To catch up, Team Draghi is calling for a genuine investment offensive: infrastructure, education, digitalization, research – practically everywhere. Europe would need to invest an additional 800 billion euros annually to keep pace. This would raise the investment ratio from 22% of GDP to 27%, a level not seen for half a century. Should we fail to boost the growth rate, Draghi sees the very foundations of our social model in acute danger.
He's right: The time when Europe could try to convince itself that everything would be fine once all the black swans (pandemic, energy prices, war) have flown away is definitively over.
Groundhog Day for the Eurobond...
To finance this, he suggests expanding the EU-wide collective debt, essentially a Corona recovery program on steroids. A plan that has neither a political nor constitutional chance of realization. And that's just as well, as it is not necessary. The bulk of the investments must come from the private sector anyway. The rest must be shouldered by national budgets.
Reigniting the discussion on mutualizing debt would further undermine the already fragile coherence of European politics. And it would strengthen populists and euroskeptics, making reforms and the return of entrepreneurial confidence even less likely. So, hands off!
How investments should be kick-started
But the private sector is holding back on investments. To stimulate the necessary momentum here, a large-scale rethinking is necessary, a radical removal of investment barriers. Cut red tape, complete the Capital Markets Union, strengthen incentives for work and investment, support venture capital for young companies, and so on. Tedious, laborious reforms, and not as flashy as Eurobonds. But crucial to get Europe moving.
The new European Commission should position itself as a reform and liberalization commission. The Draghi plan should only become part of the government program in excerpts. However, it has already done a great service in raising awareness of the problem. After the launch of the report, Europe can no longer pretend and extend. It needs to roll up its sleeves and must do so fast. We should be grateful to Mario Draghi for having instilled a much-needed sense of urgency.
Grazie, Dottore!
„Europa lässt sich wirtschaftlich abhängen" so LBBW Chefvolkswirt Dr. Moritz Kraemer. „Diese Woche hat Mario Draghi endlich den lang erwarteten Bericht zur Wettbewerbsfähigkeit Europas vorgelegt. Die Wettbewerbsstrategie enthält viel Gutes. Und Gefährliches.” Dr. Draghis Diagnose zeige eindrücklich, wie Europa bei Innovationen und Produktivitätswachstum immer schneller hinter Konkurrenten wie den USA oder China zurückfällt.
„Die Zeit, in der sich Europa selbst eingeredet hat, dass alles wieder gut werde, wenn erst einmal alle schwarzen Schwäne (Pandemie, Energiepreise, Krieg) weggeflogen sind, ist endgültig vorüber.” so Moritz Kraemer.
Um mit den Konkurrenten mitzuhalten, fordert Team Draghi eine veritable Investitionsoffensive: Infrastruktur, Bildung, Digitalisierung, Forschung – einfach überall. Wie dieses Vorgehen möglich gemacht werden soll, erfahren Sie in der aktuellen Ausgabe von Kraemers Klartext. Link in den Kommentaren.
#LBBW #Klartext #Europa #Draghi #Wettbewerb
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Chefvolkswirt Dr. Moritz Kraemer analysiert die Kapitalmärkte für die LBBW. Für seinen „Klartext“ wirft er einen persönlichen Blick auf aktuelle Fragen aus Politik, Wirtschaft, zu Technologien und dem Weltgeschehen.