US President Joe Biden is coming to celebrate the landings in France on Thursday, June 6. Today, he stands at the head of a country in full economic health. We always imagine that the whole western world is in economic crisis, but that is completely false. In 2024, the US will have a growth of 2.4%. This is three times higher than in Europe.
The gap is even wider in 2011. That year America and Europe had economies of the same size. GDP on both sides was 15,000 billion. By 2023, Uncle Sam’s will be 50% higher than ours. The United States has increased by half of ours in less than 15 years.
However, they experienced plenty of crises. The striking thing is that every crisis gives them an opportunity to widen the gap. The crisis in 2009, for example, was quickly forgotten across the Atlantic, while with us it extends until 2015at least with the euro’s. The war in Ukraine weighs on us, even as it offers additional growth to America. Because when Europe suffers from its energy deficit, which causes prices to rise, America produces the oil and gas it has in abundance. In fact, the big economic winner from the invasion of Ukraine is America. thanks to arms and energy exports to Europe.
How to explain this dynamic
America has both ingredients for growth. Primarily, cheap energy, and it is the world’s leading producer of hydrocarbons thanks to the deposits in the southern part of the country. Also, technologyof course on the Internet, with GAFA, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, biotechnologies, quantum computers, next-generation computing… The annual investments in these areas are five times higher than the total of 27 European countries, which helps to increase productivity.
Thanks to innovation in technology, e.g. each American worker produces a little more each year. It is growth. Whereas productivity in France, for example, is negative. Each worker produces a little less each year. Because we have not invested enough, partly because of the exploding work stoppages. We need to add demographics. The working-age population is increasing in the United States, that means more arms, therefore more growth. Here in Europe we are losing weapons.
The benefits of immigrating to the United States
This is due, among other things, to immigration. To notice it America is experiencing immigration that is more useful for activity than what comes to Europe. A significant proportion of foreigners who come to work in the United States are more educated than Americans. But also that the proportion of foreigners in the workplace is increasing. It has increased since Covid-19, while for indigenous people it has decreased over the same period.
Joe Biden’s financial record isn’t too bad. Activity is good, unemployment is at its lowest, re-industrialisation has made significant progress thanks to the policies he has implemented. The only downside is the deficit and the debtbut the United States benefits from a unique situation that allows it to be almost indifferent in matters of public finances because money flows into the heart of global capitalism.
