Bad News From the EU on Industrial Policy

An EU Industrial Policy Is Bad News for the U.S., Washington Times, November 11, 2019. "The European Union is afraid. It’s afraid that it’s not the home of the world’s largest and leading companies, and it’s afraid that it’s falling behind China and the United States. In its fear, it’s moving toward a policy of creating European champions that will only poison relations with the United States."

A European Industrial Policy Is Bad News for the U.S.

The U.S. Should Oppose the EU’s Turn Toward Industrial Policy, Heritage Foundation Issue Brief #5004, September 24, 2019. "The EU is moving towards the adoption of an industrial policy that, while aimed primarily at the People’s Republic of China, is also motivated by resentment of the United States. Industrial policy is the wrong tool for addressing the problems posed by China’s rise, and the European support for the creation of so-called “European champions” in industry is deeply hypocritical. The U.S. must vigorously oppose the EU’s turn toward industrial policy and must emphasize that what the U.S. and the EU need are higher levels of economic growth, the prospects for which will only be damaged if the EU pursues industrial policies that damage its economy and further alienate the United States."

The Great French Illusion

Macron Gas-Tax Retreat Is No Surprise, Newsday, December 9, 2018. "The latest riots in Paris — the most extensive since 1968 — show that while Europeans may pay higher gas taxes than we do, they don’t enjoy it. But the riots aren’t just about the price at the pump. They reflect the irrelevance of Emmanuel Macron, France’s latest man on a horse, to the problems that led to his election — and those problems are not uniquely French."

What We, And They, Are Doing Wrong

A New Approach to Europe: U.S. Interests, Nationalist Movements, and the European Union, Heritage Foundation Lecture #1300, December 4, 2018. "Current European policy combines low growth, low levels of job creation, high levels of unskilled immigration, increasing levels of supranational control, a rejection of the assimilative force of national identity, and lashings of deeply felt guilt. The first error of U.S. policy toward Europe is supporting the errors of its fiscal and monetary systems. The second error the U.S., and Europe, have made is to neglect security. The threats to European security today come from two quarters: Russia and the Mediterranean, the latter due in large part to the effects of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cataclysmically irresponsible open-borders policy."

Steady Downward As She Goes

Europe Paves the Way for Its Decline, Newsday, October 7, 2018. "Europe is declining. It’s getting richer too slowly — so slowly that it’s being left behind by the rest of the world. Strangely, that’s the result Europe prefers. Britain has a chance to escape from the European trap, but even if it does, Europe’s decline is a defeat for the United States."

Don't Post That Meme

Restrictive Nonsense from the EU, Newsday, September 23, 2018. "In an act of unmitigated stupidity, the European Union Parliament has adopted a ban on Star Trek parodies. And posting photos at sporting events. Or photos with anything copyrighted in the background. The EU wants to tax your memes."

As Goes Sweden, So Goes Europe

Swedes Could Join European Populist Force in Upcoming Vote, Newsday, September 8, 2018. "It’s hard to imagine that anyone in Sweden, a rich and beautiful nation, has a reason to be discontented. Yet, in its election on Sunday, Sweden will likely become the next European nation where a rebel party that defies the left/right divide will gain votes."

His Challenges, Unfortunately, Are Ours Too

Foreign Crises Weaken Obama at Home, Yorkshire Post, November 3, 2014. "The conventional wisdom is that US voters don’t care about foreign policy. Even on its face, this is silly: Korea, Vietnam, 9/11, and Iraq mattered in the ensuing elections. But voters don’t just care about wars. They care about perceptions of strength. And since 2013, President Barack Obama has looked weak."

The Faulty Geopolitical Case Behind TTIP

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP): The Geopolitical Reality, with Nile Gardiner and Luke Coffey, Heritage Foundation Backgrounder #2953, September 17, 2014. "The United States and the European Union are negotiating a trade agreement—the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)—that is being hailed as the answer to the woes of the transatlantic relationship, as a solution to the EU’s economic difficulties, and as heralding the creation of a new institution that will reinvigorate the Western alliance. It is essential that both the geopolitical concerns that motivate support for a TTIP and the limits of a TTIP’s ability to improve U.S.–EU relations and address the rise of China be properly understood."

The Economic Case for and Against TTIP

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP): Economic Benefits and Potential Risks, with Luke Coffey and Bryan Riley, Heritage Foundation Backgrounder #2952, September 17, 2014. "The United States and the European Union are negotiating a trade agreement—the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP)—that politicians and commentators on both sides of the Atlantic hail as the answer to the woes of the transatlantic relationship, as a solution to the EU’s economic difficulties, and as heralding the creation of a new institution that will reinvigorate the Western alliance. But no U.S.–EU agreement can do all that has been claimed of the TTIP, and there are reasons to believe that its benefits have been oversold. The U.S. should support all measures that would promote growth and employment by increasing economic freedom, but it should not accept any agreement that could increase government regulation in the name of promoting free trade and create a transnational regulatory body that could infringe on U.S. sovereignty."

The Rise of the Part-Time Job

“U.S. Must Learn Jobs Lesson from the Plight of Part-Time Europe,” not available online, Yorkshire Post, May 25, 2013. "Part-time jobs aren’t all bad. But Europe’s reliance on them rests on its failure to be flexible enough to create full-time jobs. One of the secrets of the U.S.’s success has been its extraordinarily flexible economy. Obamacare was inspired by Europe’s example. It’s no surprise that it mirrors Europe’s destructive pattern of inflexibly pricing full-time work out of existence."