The future of European competitiveness: a conversation with Mario Draghi

[@InfoSopher]

I've heard somewhere that over 90% of large tech companies in the US (and the situation in China is not much different) have been founded by technically inclined young (below 40) men. Certainly, this seems true for most of the dozens of tech companies that I'm aware of. Whether it's Apple or Microsoft, NVIDIA or SpaceX, OpenAI or Tesla (one founder was a little over 40). SAP or Oracle. Google or Facebook/Meta. The same holds true for many other older European companies as well from 100+ years ago. Like BASF, Siemens, Bayer and Bosch. And American companies like Ford and Boeing are no exception. (I only came across the founders of Daimler as a counterexample, as they were older.) Yet these young men are practically not present, represented or connected in and to the political elite in EU and most of its nations. It's almost as if the vibes... don't vibe. The culture is different. It makes me seriously wonder about why that is. And what the point is behind ignoring this most obvious fact. Moreover, these are often people with strong heterodox views. E.g. consider the founders of Fairchild Semiconductors, one of the earliest important SV companies. In Europe, the person that they had to "betray" in order to succeed would probably have gotten state funding. Because he had the most credentials, was a nobel laureate, and a widely known name. (Google traiterous 8.) In the US they were able to become independent because of private investment. There are countless similar examples. E.g. the Apple / PC revolution, which went directly against old business interests in the shape of IBM. Or think of the PayPal "mafia", which in a European context probably would have been cut short by some regulations created by entrenched interests (existing payment providers) and of course the lack of VC funding. The story behind the founder of one of the major companies that is protecting Europe (Palmer Luckey of Anduril) right now is no exception either. Another extreme example for how _NOT_ to do things comes straight out of Germany. Where digital natives, often with a computer background, felt that they had to create their own party (The Pirate Party) in order to find a place in politics. Precisely because they were effectively excluded by traditional parties. (You can Google "Killerspieledebatte" as a great example for how people that played video games in the early 2000s were treated by the political establishment. And this cohort has a strong overlap with those that later go on to found tech companies.) In fact, I often come across absurd situations: Remarks from politicians that get paid well for their supposed digital knowledge, which however would be - because they are so wrong headed - put to shame by almost any technically inclined young man. Such as Merkel's person for "digital transformation", of course a middle aged woman, who thought of html as a programming language. An outstandingly ignorant remark that most teens with a semi-serious interest in programming would be able to identify as such. Come to think of it, I've never heard an actual digital native use the term "digital transformation". (Modern) Europe has a toxic relationship to its own young technically inclined people. (Which are mostly men. In particular in software.) It doesn't give them a voice, it does not take them seriously, it does not support them. I speak from personal, painful experience. This is why more and more such people turn their backs on Europe. Why, after all, would one degrade oneself - work for a society that does not have the intellect to appreciate one's abilities and that for a fraction of what one could get elsewhere? So here is my short, tldr take: What must not be, must not be. And freedom is elsewhere. PS: There is a strong correlation between the language skills and the level of thought in an individual. Since level of thought and broad exposure to information encoded in a language are correlated, and since the latter is correlated with language skills, the initial statement follows from a transitive relationship. Consider this when listening to the event...

[@Robis9267]

Totally right, Europe is HOSTILE to young people, burdens them with taxes to support old timers, also kills initiative, does not support entrepreneurialism, hates english language (except in Nordics/Baltics and Netherlands)... There are no tech sector, no IPO's, people with ideas are frowned upon, because "it's not how things work here", I've experienced this in France...

[@zacharyrichard2764]

It’s an issue of federal vs a union of states model 😭 I hope you’re ok…

[@gnuemacs1166]

Europe let the cia kill tech and expelled its experts to america, america outsourced tech to india and China, so america shuts down European tech only to give it to india and China, Europe had tech sinclair, arm / bbc micro ferranti, no longer, Olivetti too had tech

[@riccardomazzanti4290]

Thanks

[@robertalenrichter]

"Scale", which is achieved by "integrating markets", will, of course, lead to even more cultural uniformity. I understand the value of Europe as a block which can hold its own against others, but we can't even establish our own environmental, agricultural norms because of the need to "compete". The result is a watering down of standards to the lowest global common denominator. The big corporations want nothing more than a Europe which resembles the United States. I like neither populists nor technocrats. I guess it would be too much to hope for a Europe which profits from its extraordinary legacy and appreciation for complexity to chart its own course in this appalling world. And even hope that what used to be referred to as "high culture" were to have pride of place in our mental landscape.

[@tommasopezzato2335]

Very true

[@Paul-e9x4h]

Eropa menjadi kompetitor manufactur product yang sangat handal namun kuantitasnya masih kurang banyak dalam segi jumlah

[@lucianasalles7272]

Buongiorno!

[@giuliocaprini-be2pj]

Implement the Report soon

[@stefano8936]

Let's welcome lower salaries yeah!

[@MUSIC4realLIFE]

"Americans are listening to this guy trying to sell an outdated, copy-paste plan to Europeans and are falling out of their chairs! He can't even present the ROI on this idea. He keeps talking about grandpa, milk, and cookies. Dude, if you understand finance, explain why Italy is borrowing so much. How is it that, coming from banking and representing Italy, you can't get the finances right, yet you're trying to sell the same old stuff to others?"

[@960john]

He's not representing Italy (it's just your xenophoby) and his copy-past plan isn't at all applied in Italy.

[@erikadibiase868]

Wow, are you really trying to blame Draghi for the disaster that's the Italian economy? lol

[@MUSIC4realLIFE]

@@erikadibiase868 "Expectations are that if someone can do it, it would be him, right? He's trying to organize, budget, and set things up in a proper structure. I would expect a person from Italy to be able to do that! Organization is liberation, but this big man is letting us down with this plan!"

[@MUSIC4realLIFE]

@@960john Government Debt to GDP in Italy averaged 118.26 percent of GDP from 1988 until 2023, reaching an all time high of 154.90 percent of GDP in 2020 "Now, the government, with this amount of borrowing, is asking other governments to take 5% of their GDP and invest it where? In projects that would be delivered by him the only, and not from Italy! Taking from one pocket and placing it safely with their financial friends! Don’t worry about it."

[@960john]

@@MUSIC4realLIFE The borrowing would not be directed to Italy, but into all EU. And not delivered or managed by him, but by the Commission. He's just an advisor. And again, he's not representing Italy at all. You're a just a xenophobe.

[@AlessandroFuselli-z6r]

Yeah. A banker will certainly save Europe, obviously.

[@erikadibiase868]

Can you give me a couple of examples of policies promoted by Draghi that damaged the EU?

[@stefano8936]

Bro is right, they only damaged Italy in favour of "the greater good"

[@erikadibiase868]

@@stefano8936 Italy would have bankrupted long time ago without EU, what are you talking about?

[@stefano8936]

@@erikadibiase868 LOL, as Japan, right?

[@renzofranco7420]

Very interesting. My only question would be who is Draghi representing. Which entity or force?

[@ruiferro4160]

Is it not enough that he sees both the East and the West making Europe redundant? China and US and then even the BRICS are becoming a world apart. Europe cannot become a museum with a focus on increasingly perpetuating expenditure and not investing in a better future... Look at the European funds, they are not being invested on a future ROI for the people of Europe. In the US, Lina Khan head of the FTC is suing monopolies, we are encouraging monopolies since 2000. We can do better than most again.

[@EdwardD-q5p]

Reason

[@bear8190]

Common sense

[@danesovic7585]

European civilization

[@metalfingerz4203]

european's future this is what he is representing. This is why antagonists like russians and their slaves don't like him

[@adrianhudek9111]

Mr Orban does not agree.

[@stefano8936]

Scale, for many of us mean lower salary

[@mindegyism]

Truth is that Orban commented in a very appreciative way about Draghi's report