Prominent MIT economist and best-selling author Andrew McAfee delivers a passionate critique of Europe’s innovation and productivity gaps compared with the United States.
“The liberal democratic West has created levels of prosperity and freedom and security that are unprecedented in human history”, he notes at the outset of his DLD25 presentation, which is peppered with charts and data. “And I want to keep that going.”
However, Europe is “falling behind in some troubling ways”, Andrew McAfee warns. Citing the Draghi report, he points out that Europe’s productivity growth has stagnated, with labor productivity dropping from near parity with the U.S. in 2000 to being “20 percent behind” today.
“This is an existential challenge”, the MIT economist warns, highlighting Europe’s struggles in the technology and innovation sectors as the continent’s biggest economic weakness.
“Why has tech fallen behind in Europe?”, he asks. “It is a rich, technologically sophisticated part of the world with a great educational system and iconic companies and iconic innovators. So what’s been happening?”
His answer: there’s a range of factors, including “way too much regulation”, “taxation burdens”, a lack of private capital for startups, and too much market fragmentation across the EU.
Watch the video for details, as Andrew McAfee challenges the EU to confront these issues and asks if Europe is willing to take the necessary steps to close these gaps and reclaim its position as a leader in technological innovation.
