The EU’s Covid Economic Blues Continue.
With a disastrous vaccine rollout and more lockdowns, Europe’s economy has slid into recession. (NY Times)
“Coming a day after the United States disclosed that its economy expanded 1.6 percent over the same period, the European downturn presented a contrast of fortunes on opposite sides of the Atlantic.
Propelled by dramatic public expenditures to stimulate growth, as well as swift increases in vaccination rates, the United States — the world’s largest economy — expanded rapidly during the first months of 2021. At the same time, the 19 nations that share the euro currency were caught in the second part of a so-called double-dip recession, reflecting far less aggressive stimulus spending and a botched effort to secure vaccines.”
The key to economic success in the Covid era is vaccines and halting the spread of the virus. Everything else appears to be an after thought in the battle to regain normalcy. Nations and regions that fail to curtains the spread and therefore the damage cause by the virus will continue to lag behind the rest of the world. China was the first country to fully emerge from lockdown world and now has a roaring economy that seeks to dominate over regions like the EU and they may actually succeed. Fortunately, America appears to be headed down the Chinese path and not Europe’s.
