The warning could not be clearer. Europe faces ¡°an existential crisis.¡± ¡°Over time, we will inexorably become less prosperous, less equal, less secure and, as a result, less free to choose our destiny.¡± Moreover, ¡°without action, we will have to either compromise our welfare, our environment or our freedom.¡±
The source of those predictions could not be more credible: Mario Draghi. He is a former prime minister of Italy, former president of the European Central Bank and the man credited with saving the euro in 2012. His dire assessment is the outcome of a report commissioned by and delivered last week to newly re-elected European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
It¡¯s premature to call the Draghi report dead in the water, but his grim assessment and his eye-popping recommendations ¡ª a new industrial strategy that raises investment by €800 billion a year ¡ª have even his most fervent supporters at something of a loss. Its message is invaluable, however, one that other countries, including Japan, need to take to heart.
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