On September 9, 2024, the European Commission issued an eye-popping report on the dire state of Europe’s economy.
The author of the report, which is titled “The Future of European Competitiveness”, is Mario Draghi, the former President of the European Central Bank.
Draghi, a former Goldman Sachs banker, is perhaps most notorious for inflicting extreme austerity upon Greece. It is ironic indeed that an ‘expert’ whose policies caused an unprecedented contraction in Greece’s economy is now being called upon to help Europe achieve long-term economic growth.
Draghi’s report acknowledges that Europe’s loss of access to Russian pipeline gas has resulted in “huge cost to Europe”. Yet Draghi does not argue for restoring Europe’s access to Russian gas.
Rather, he recommends that Europe make massive and “unprecedented” investments in defence spending, decarbonization and the digitalization of Europe’s economy.
This week, I discussed the Draghi report with geopolitical economists Radhika Desai and Michael Hudson.
They contend that the true victim of Western sanctions on Russia is not Russia itself, but Europe.
Michael is an American economist and a Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. In an April 2006 article in Harper’s, just before the Great Recession of 2007-08, Michael correctly predicted a crash in U.S. housing prices.
Radhika is a Professor at the Department of Political Studies at the University of Manitoba in Canada. She’s also Director of the Geopolitical Economy Research Group at the University of Manitoba.
You can watch and listen to our discussion here:
