[tlb]

It’s all on track:

Analysis: French study says Europe fading

Published 5/14/2003

WASHINGTON, May 14 (UPI) — Europe is predicted to become a second-ranking economic force over the next 50 years, its share of world output almost halving from its current 22-percent share to 12 percent, a top French think tank reported Wednesday.

Over the same period, the United States is expected almost to retain its 25-percent share, which will by 2050 be matched or even outpaced by China as the world’s dominant economy.

“The enlargement of the European Union will not be sufficient to guarantee parity with the United States,” says the report from the prestigious French Institute of International Relations. “The EU will weigh less heavily on the process of globalization and a slow but inexorable movement onto history’s ‘exit ramp’ can be foreseen.”

[TigerLikesRooster]

The annoying display of European pride and snobby attitude mask the creeping pessimism and cynicism about Europe.

It is a kind of psychological defense mechanism.

[ishmac]

“The enlargement of the European Union will not be sufficient to guarantee parity with the United States,” says the report from the prestigious French Institute of International Relations. “The EU will weigh less heavily on the process of globalization and a slow but inexorable movement onto history’s ‘exit ramp’ can be foreseen.”

The temptation to gloat is strong, but we better hope this doesn't happen. The European block is still "our" civilization. It's got to be on our side against China and an increasingly hostile Russia. And if it goes Islamic, well that's a catastrophe.

[Sawdring]

Does anyone have faith in a 50 year study? Imagine predicting what US economic output would be in 1982 when you are mired in 1932 pre-war Great Depression.