A lot of (not all) European regulation is at it's core about trade. Things this author feels are "obstructions to trade" are to enable trade of the things we value. For example Europe might regulate what fish species you can sell if you call a fish "Anchovy". Additionally some regulation applies minimal standards, for example regulation of the angle of what's visible in the rear view mirror of a car. On top of that some regulation is to guarantee certain standard of living between member countries. The countries themselves are separate governing states therefore they still have some agency on the standards they set on top of the European regulation. This all is required for equal trade between countries while not merging altogether.

On top of that not all regulation is about economics, sometimes we favor safety, standard of living or social safety nets above short term profit. Those factors will in the long run lead to more prosperity for the citizens.

No system is ideal and there are definitely problems within Europe however I feel like this article is written from a very pro USA perspective. At points it almost reads like a thread to the European government or pro-USA propaganda. I think the authors proposes a solution that will lead to a "race to the bottom" within European trade similar to how the current economic system is dysfunctional in the USA.

I'm Dutch, the media narrative is a major problem. It's not being honest about the level of relative decline between USA & NL. 20 years of diverging growth rates has had a massive impact. This trend will continue, since NL missed most of the internet, mobile, social and AI startups.

Here in Colorado even people at entry level jobs can afford a nice home. Salaries are way lower in NL, and housing is incredibly expensive.

But the media just doesn't report on it. You don't notice it unless you live in both places. Still a beautiful country though and USA has it's own problems as well.

Japan had a similar turn in the 80s, but unlike Europe they seem to have more of an alternative view of society and future.

Europe seems to effectively follow American culture and practices with a dampener. Being America with healthcare and college funds has not been much of a vision for the future.

"Output per head" is total population? If so the slight downward trajectory likely reflects the aging population of europe.

It always amazes me that some Europeans look to the USA as some goal to aspire to. As an American, all I’m trying to do is get rich enough to move to Europe someday. There are greater goals than growth at all costs. Things like respecting the humans that live there and putting their well-being above corporations. If that thwarts “growth”, so be it.

I think the lack of social safety net in the US is a gun to the head of American workers that gets more productivity out of them (at the cost of well-being which isn't accounted for). The billionaires are necessary as aspirational opiate that allows those same people to work themselves to death with the balm that they too will soon join the ranks of the billionaires. Let's not even start on how the American economy depends on undocumented immigrants which function as disposable citizens. They function economically as citizens but don't consume resources and can be sent away as needed if they happen to be inconvenient.

I do not think there is an ethical way to challenge the American economy. It'd be like trying to beat the costs of Dubai's construction industry without enslaving Asians.

The measure of "output" is the problem. Output can be increased by more expenditures, not a real tangible benefit for the society.

The US had 6.3% GDP deficit in 2024, meanwhile it's 3% in the EU. The US is growing on debt, and on its way to become Japan.

Even on EU's worst debt crisis times, it didn't run such a big deficit as the US.

Add in the fact that the EU has accepted the Meta/Google tax in advertising, among other US' interests businesses. Which it can change its mind and get such businesses in trouble.

Not to forget about shale oil. The US became the biggest oil producer BY A WIDE MARGIN.

But it's all based on a $60 barrel, if the oil barrel goes back to $40, you'd see most of those companies filing bankrupcy and trillions disappearing. Here's another industry that the US government will need subsidize further with more US debt and taxpayers money.

There's a lot of risk attached to the US' recent growth, people would be naive to not consider them. We'd have to see if that trend lives for longer, and what are the tradeoffs.

The EU could decide to also destroy its country, feed people a lot of corn syrup and diabetes, and provide them GLP-1 drugs to increase its GDP.

Or just make the european believe that big cars are great, and they need a 5 bedroom house for 3 people.

All this would push that holy productivity number UP, but does it make rational sense to do that? Nope.

What is never mentioned in articles like this is that the post-war period was a truly exceptional period in one respect: literally almost everything was supply-limited. A bit less so in the US than in Europe.

Now it's the opposite: almost everything is demand-limited. If you asked a good economist "what factory needs building?", the answer would be none. Or the answer would be something like "the EU is about to outlaw calculator imports from China, build that factory".

One of these environments makes it much, much harder to grow.

Obviously this is a general trend, not a rule.

I hate these hit pieces against the EU, but I’ll give OP credit that theirs actually has a mixture of credulous proposals (Federal preemption, ending directives, commercial court) alongside the usual pro-billionaire insanity (a 28th regime just for business? Removing regulations on product standards? Are you fucking kidding me here?).

Europe has its fair share of issues, but a lot of them can still be traced back to unresolved wealth pumps and neoliberal policies weakening the state and labor force in favor of business and billionaire interests. There’s also unresolved questions about how much of America’s economic growth is tangible versus theoretical, given the dilapidated state of America’s infrastructure and ballooning national debt problem. Neutering what makes Europeans so much happier than their American peers just for the sake of “productivity” comes off as gallingly tone deaf to the practical realities on the ground.

I live in Europe and I am not sure what’s so terrible about us falling behind the US. Are people going hungry? Having a hard time finding a place to live? Traveling to nice places?? Not even that in my view. We live a happy fulfilling life. We are healthy . I would say even that most people are better off than most Americans. The US is ahead mostly because of a few giant corporations and billionaires. The average American is just not benefiting so much from all that wealth.

Also, please stop this colonialist nonsense about spreading our way of live elsewhere. If the world wants to use our model of life as an example, great otherwise leave them the hell alone! Want to help them out of poverty? Trade with them on fair conditions. Don’t give them scraps in exchange for doing as they’re told! China seems to be doing that much better than Europe ever did.

Eh idk if I should take the word of people who praise governement bailouts and try to protect big tech companies by saying they aren't really monopolies since they have some competiting elements

I'm dutch as well and travel relatively frequently to the US (just came back from Washington DC). I'm not sure I see the impact of this "decline" you seem to notice. Perhaps this is also why the "media narrative" is not reporting on it, since it is not really felt that way?

Housing is expensive and we built far too little in the last decades, but this is also extremely expensive the the areas of the US where you actually want to live (The coastal cities, usually). Besides, this seems to be a global issue you read about everywhere.

I feel that, on average, most things in the Netherlands are of a higher standard — from public infrastructure and transportation to healthcare and the overall quality of everyday things, whether it’s food, trains, hotels, or even the items in your bathroom. Every time I travel back and forth I notice this.

Sure, salaries for certain jobs are much higher in the US, but I wouldn't want to switch except to begin a startup, maybe. I like doing business in the US and would visit for the amazing national parks, but prefer actually living in NL. That said, a rise in salaries and perhaps a more business and capital friendly environment are things I support.

"reken je niet rijk"

> Salaries are way lower in NL, and housing is incredibly expensive.

This is true, however there is so much that is already paid for with the Dutch salaries that you have to arrange individually in the USA. Mind you a lot is collectively organized which would be impossible to arrange individually to the same level.

I think there are a lot of people in the USA with "entry level jobs" choosing to afford a nice home but perhaps have some other things not as well arranged skewing the observers image, for example working a lot of hours or not having a better health insurance coverage.

In the end I feel like the welfare of the median person in each country is very important and I feel like the NL scores on that way higher when compared to the USA. For example healthcare, education, infrastructure, food safety etc.

Above the average(note average is not median) you are probably better of in the USA but below the average you are probably better of in NL.

It's stagnation in the headline, not decline. There's a massive difference. European GDP per capita has been roughly 75% of America's for the last 50 years.

Over that same period, American GDP per capita has more than doubled, even after adjusting for inflation.

Which means that European GDP per capita has also more than doubled. 75% of an increasing number is also an increasing number.

> Here in Colorado even people at entry level jobs can afford a nice home.

Colorado is big. Try that in Aspen ;->

A lot of Polish media outlets seem to have completely forgone reporting from abroad. I don't even think it's propaganda, they just lost viewership to the Internet and found that there are cheaper ways to fill the airwaves than news from faraway countries requiring expensive local crews/reporters.

But yes, even many policy wonks / talking heads don't seem to realize the divergence between EU15 and the US since 2007.

> As an American, all I’m trying to do is get rich enough to move to Europe someday.

How do Europeans get rich enough to have that life you dream about in Europe once you're rich enough from making money in America to move there?

Believe me, it amazes many of us Europeans too. We have a real life example of how those policies will eventually play out (and tens of years of research that confirm the immense disbenefits of such an approach), and yet here we are.

Have you travelled Europe? Other than in some countries like Germany or Ireland the job situation is quite bleak. For example, look at average wages vs living costs in Madrid

There are some aspect of the US culture that are truly fascinating and IMHO most Europeans are jealous of but the rest is a cautionary tale about how you can be very rich(as a number on the bank UI) and have horrible life. The next iteration of the Christmas Carol could be one where they take a European aspiring to be American to US to show him the consequences of greed and isolation.

Honestly, US is currently in a stage that Europe was long time ago. Greed, nationalism, military might, fast paces unchecked advancements in tech, rampant religious fundamentalism and sectarianism etc. All those thing are stuff Europeans went through.

That's why the Charles Dickens stories fit nicely.

One problem about it is that without growth, there's no way European pension commitments will be paid. Growth was baked into these promises and we don't have any.

Yes, but this only works as long as the economy remains competitive. Europe is rapidly squandering the human and economic capital it has accumulated over centuries, while the US and Asia continue to grow. Welfare exists as long as someone pays for it.

I was like that when I was growing up.

The cultural influence that the US exercises outwards with Hollywood, music, etc cannot be understaded.

> As an American, all I’m trying to do is get rich enough to move to Europe someday.

Why not directly work in the EU?

Are you ready to live in a 300 sq feet shoebox apartment instead of a normal single family house?

I don’t understand how expensive Europe is yet income is proportionately low. I don’t mean to live a life of luxury — just basic survival.

Sure restaurant prices are about the same … for 1/3rd the amount of food.

You don't have to be rich to move to Europe. The cost of living in most European countries is less than the USA (which you would expect, given their lower salaries).

I’m reading a book by a British author called Against the Machine which you may enjoy. It distills this pervasive unease so many have felt of this growth at all cost system that has been rapidly eating the world. The environmental, humanistic, moral, and spiritual costs of this “machine” is sometimes hard to see when it’s all we’ve known.

>There are greater goals than growth at all costs.

Those greater goals are easier to achieve when you are the biggest economy of the world.

Vacation every day, right?

"I do not think there is an ethical way to challenge the American economy"

I think Europe could do much better without destroying safety nets. Starting a business should be easier and hiring people should be easier too. And in general a little more ambition couldn't hurt.

> undocumented immigrants which function as disposable citizens

I am afraid that is not a problem exclusive to the United States. Perhaps it is more prevalent there, I don't have the numbers, but it also happens in Europe. What we don't usually have is a "backdoor" for slavery in the form of penal labor enshrined in our Constitutions.

> I do not think there is an ethical way to challenge the American economy.

Supporting a negligent leader so that he gets elected can undermine it.

Not that I think that is ethical, either. But it is more "efficient", in terms of resources spent.

The US actually has a series of social safety nets. There are massive government programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security which provide real, measurable safety nets to the most vulnerable in society. There are also hundreds of thousands of charities, churches, and non-profit organizations that donate time, money, and resources to assist families going through hard times. There is also the US Military, which serves as a government-backed career path for millions of high-school graduates.

I think you're thinking that the US got ahead through exploiting labor. You missed the biggest piece of it though - the US welcomes (or at least until recently used to welcome) massive amounts of highly-educated immigrants from all over the world, and crucially has built a culture and society where those people can feel "American" fairly quickly in a way that they would never if they moved to Switzerland or France.

Being able to brain-drain the entire world and then smartly arm those people with unlimited capital to build their companies and dreams is the "unfair" American advantage. It isn't unethical, it's just not something European society supports. That, and the 30-year mortgage.

> “Europeans… so much happier than… Americans”

Citation needed, and not to a Facebook Quiz-tier “how happy are you on a scale of ten” questionnaire.

My experience is obviously anecdotal, but it is quite varied, and the exact opposite.

the 28th regime is a proposal from the former head[0] of the largest Italian left wing party.

It may be insane, but it's not something dreamed up by billionaires.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enrico_Letta

> Europe…issues… can still be traced back to unresolved wealth pumps and neoliberal policies weakening the state and labor force in favor of business and billionaire interests

Is it your position that Europe just hasn’t done socialism hard enough? Can you point to an example of a country who has successfully done what you’d like to see?