China, the United States, Germany, France, South Korea, Italy, Vietnam, Spain and other 20 countries announced the GDP growth rate in the third quarter

Looking at the economic report cards for the third quarter of 2023 from the European Union, the Eurozone, and 18 other countries that have been compiled so far, Europe has performed very poorly. Among them, the economy of Estonia contracted by 2.5% year-on-year, Austria and Sweden by 1.2%, and Germany by 0.8%.

Italy's economic growth rate in the third quarter was zero year-on-year and quarter-on-quarter, France's economy grew by only 0.3%, Latvia's GDP grew slightly by 0.7%, and only a few European countries such as Spain, Belgium, and Portugal had an economic growth rate of more than 1% in the third quarter.

Under the influence of this widespread malaise, the overall economic growth rate of the EU and the eurozone in the third quarter was dragged down to 0.1%, so that some media estimated that due to the increased uncertainty caused by geopolitics, especially the potential danger of "a sharp outbreak of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict".

Coupled with the impact of multiple factors such as pressure on the purchasing power of European households caused by high inflation, tightening financing conditions, and the energy supply crisis that has not been completely eliminated, the economies of the European Union, the euro area and most member states are expected to decline in the fourth quarter of this year, and economic activity will continue to shrink in the first quarter of next year.

In contrast, Belarus's economy surged by 6.2 percent in the third quarter, Vietnam by 5.33 percent, China by 4.9 percent and Kyrgyzstan by 4.5 percent. The U.S. economy also achieved a year-on-year growth of 2.7% in the third quarter, which is a very bright growth rate among developed countries.

Why is the European economy so sluggish?

In the previous article, Nansheng mentioned that "the important reason for the economic malaise in Europe is the loss of independence, and the United States is the only one to lead the way, and the outflow of capital and industry", but this is only one of the reasons, and today I will share with you several other important factors.

The first is that without low-cost energy, the European manufacturing industry has lost its "competitive base". Before the Russia-Ukraine conflict, most European countries, including Germany, formed a special energy partnership with Russia, and stable and affordable oil and gas resources complemented European industry.

However, in recent years, European politicians have no longer adhered to an independent foreign policy, economic and trade policy, and as long as the United States wants to do something, Europe has blindly followed it, without considering the economic effect. After the Russia-Ukraine conflict, it would rather buy American energy at a high price than buy Russian oil and gas at a low price.

A large number of energy-intensive companies in Europe have permanently reduced production or closed down, and a large amount of capital has flowed to the United States. It has broken one foot in the European manufacturing industry, intensified the process of "de-industrialization" in Europe, and the industrial structure of most countries in the European Union has undergone huge and structural changes.

The second is that the EU has entered an era of deficits. In addition to Germany, which is still able to maintain a surplus, most EU member states, including France, Italy, and Spain, have imported more goods than they exported, and the high debt problem has intensified separatist tendencies within the EU.

What is ironic is that in the context of the weakening of Europe's industrial competitiveness, they are not thinking about strengthening industrial cooperation with China and using the current complementarity to make up for their own shortcomings, but want to work with the United States to engage in "de-sinicization of the industrial chain".

It is important to know that the industrial competition between Europe and the United States is greater than the complementarity, and although the industries between China and Europe are also more competitive, complementarity and cooperation are still the mainstream. But it is a pity that European politicians are satisfied with the ideology of the United States, and the industrial competitiveness is not as good as that of the United States.

In the context of the relatively obvious economic growth in China and the United States, only Europe itself is gloomy. At present, the Palestinian-Israeli conflict cannot be resolved for a long time, and if the Middle East is chaotic, it will further exacerbate the economic and debt crisis in Europe, which is highly dependent on the supply of energy from the international market.

If there is chaos in the Middle East, it will also exert greater negative pressure on the United States, but the United States has long been a net exporter of energy and is also the largest exporter of arms. In this turmoil, the U.S. economy is stronger than Europe, and the U.S. has the ability to pass on losses in the Middle East to Europe.

Other reasons for Europe's economic malaise are: the rise of far-right forces in Europe, attacking the previously dominant center-left political forces, and setting off one "black swan" event after another; Millions of refugees have poured into Europe through illegal channels, which has had a strong impact on European society.

In addition to the decline in political autonomy, Europe's autonomy in the financial sector is also declining, the euro is weakening more and more, and the counterbalancing role of the dollar will also tend to decline; Europe's policy of double standards has led to a decline in moral legitimacy and a relative decline in the influence of the EU. This article is written by Nansheng, please do not reprint or plagiarize without authorization!