EUROPE-IS-US

  Political controversies are often framed as disputes over facts: who did what, when, and with what measurable consequences. Yet many of the deepest disagreements—especially across borders—persist even when the facts themselves are broadly agreed. What differs is not information, but interpretation . Beneath that interpretation lie what social scientists describe as moral economies : shared, largely implicit assumptions about fairness, legitimacy, and the proper relationship between power and wealth. Few recent developments have exposed these differences as clearly as the reactions to the visible enrichment of Donald Trump , his family, and associated political and economic allies. What many Americans regard as normal, acceptable, or at least unsurprising has struck many Europeans as institutionally troubling. Both reactions are sincere. Both are internally coherent. And neither represents a global default. To understand why the same facts produce such divergent judgments, it ...

By any measure, the U.S. presidency is a position of extraordinary visibility. Less often examined, however, is how the personal wealth of those who occupy the office changes while they do. This article offers a narrow, factual comparison of estimated wealth gains associated with two recent presidents—Donald Trump and Joe Biden. Up till end of 2025. Article ChatGPT supported How we compare We summarize widely reported, order-of-magnitude estimates of personal and family wealth change during and immediately around each presidency. Valuations vary; exact accounting is neither possible nor required for understanding relative magnitude. Donald Trump: a presidency alongside large private holdings Donald Trump entered office with extensive business interests spanning real estate, resorts, and licensing arrangements. Ownership was retained during the presidency, and valuations of such portfolios are inherently complex. Across the presidency and its immediate aftermath, public finan...

Introduction: A President Under Siege As President Donald Trump’s second term enters its final stretch, his administration is facing a perfect storm of domestic challenges: plummeting approval ratings [1,2,3,4,5,6], economic discontent, legal battles, and deep partisan polarization. Amid this turmoil, one foreign policy issue has taken center stage: Venezuela. The Trump administration has dramatically escalated pressure on Nicolás Maduro’s regime, deploying military assets [7,8], seizing oil tankers [9], and authorizing covert operations [10,11]. But is this aggressive stance genuinely about promoting democracy or combating drug trafficking—or is it a calculated distraction from mounting troubles at home? History offers a cautionary tale. Leaders under domestic pressure have often turned to foreign adventurism to rally support, shift narratives, and suppress dissent [12,13,14,15]. From Argentina’s disastrous Falklands War to Russia’s annexation of Crimea, the playbook is fa...

  This blog extends on my earlier blogs on America’s history, like [1] and [2] to try and find plausible and hopeful ways for America, so related to us in Europe, surviving the current extreme polarization into a happier future. Europe has been in it, but in other ways. To relieve readers from reading my earlier blogs, this article is fully contained, including a historical narrative (again). Introduction: The Anxiety Beneath the Divide In 1630, aboard the Arbella , the Puritan leader John Winthrop delivered a sermon that would echo through American history. "We shall be as a city upon a hill," he declared, envisioning a community so virtuous it would inspire the world. But Winthrop’s vision had a darker side: this city was only for his people. Those who didn’t conform—dissenters, Native Americans, or later, Catholics and enslaved Africans—were excluded, expelled, or subjugated. From its earliest days, America was not a melting pot but a collage of anxious g...

To:  Sander Tordoir, Centre for European Reform From:  R.M. Westerink On Your Article:  For European Economic Policy, the New World Has Yet to Be Born https://www.intereconomics.eu/contents/year/2025/number/4/article/for-european-economic-policy-the-new-world-has-yet-to-be-born.html.eu/contents/year/2025/number/4/article/for-european-economic-policy-the-new-world-has-yet-to-be-born.html Subject: Turning Europe’s competitiveness diagnosis into operational strategy 1. The Value of Your Analysis Your recent analysis on Europe’s economic vulnerabilities and strategic blind spots is one of the clearest articulations of how deeply the continent’s position has shifted. You make three contributions that stand out: You show how Europe’s mid-tech strengths—machinery, automotive, clean technologies, aerospace—are under structural threat from both Chinese overcapacity and US industrial acceleration. You highlight that high-tech capacity cannot emerge without healthy mid-te...

  Europe vs China: Competitiveness in a Changing World — Part 6: Europe’s Actual Priority Agenda and Actions About this Series This article is the final part of a multi-part series examining how Europe’s competitiveness compares with China, what structural imbalances have emerged, how these shape geopolitical realities, and what priority agenda Europe must pursue to restore strategic strength. At the end of this series, we now evaluate Europe’s actual priorities and policy actions, measuring them against the ideal agenda defined in Part 5. This completes a coherent analytical framework for understanding Europe’s current competitive position and future trajectory. What We Learned from Parts 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 Part 1 established the analytical tools needed to compare Europe and China across productivity, industrial scale, systemic factors, and strategic autonomy. Part 2 revealed significant competitive imbalances: Europe leads in high-value science and specialised industries, ...