debate is emerging over the economic difference between Europe and America. It seems to be driven primarily by the American side, where it has ostensibly been inspired by the spotlight that President Trump has shone upon Europe in general. He has drawn American eyes to Europe both through tariff negotiations and his administration’s highlighting of the decline of freedom of speech in the European Union.
Recently, the Wall Street Journal made a notable contribution to the transatlantic comparison. In an editorial video, Mark Kelly, senior producer of the Journal’s editorial page, brought together viewpoints from a variety of contributors to try to determine what keeps America ahead and why the gap has increased in recent years.
Joseph Sternberg, a political economics columnist and member of the Wall Street Journal’s editorial board, finds the prosperity difference “kind of startling” and suggests that the gap began opening up in 2007. He attributes the American edge to “tech” and finance industries, which, according to Sternberg, “skew the numbers in America’s favor.”
While Sternberg is correct in describing the present state of the U.S.-Europe comparison, he is wrong in suggesting that it began becoming relevant some 20 years ago. As we will see in a moment, the American economy has been ahead of its European peers for much longer than that.
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