GBN Meeting Report
In June 2006, 40 GBN members met in Istanbul, Turkey—the historic gateway between West and East—to explore together the future of Europe to 2020. The meeting built upon the simple proposition that many of us were paying insufficient attention to Europe. In fact, Europe today makes up roughly a third of the world’s economy, and contains at least as many wealthy consumers as the United States. It is culturally rich; boasts an extraordinarily well-educated population as well as sophisticated product and financial markets; has a history of global influence and significant technological prowess; and is also experimenting with free trade, open borders, a single currency, and a kind of supranational governance that is bolder than anything other regions of the world would even consider. And now Europe is expanding into new territory to the East, bringing within its boundaries developing economies that may be fraught with challenges but are equally rich with opportunities.
Yet the rest of the world seems to be “shorting” Europe. The consensus bet is that Europe will at best follow, certainly not lead, most of the major global political-economy developments of the next decade. Many even think that Europe will barely keep up or fall further behind.
See full Article.
Posts
