Old industrial heartlands in Western Europe are in rapid decline

There is a radical transformation taking place in the European economy. The old industrial strongholds in the western part of the continent are witnessing a rapid decline, while the countries in the eastern part of the continent are on the rise. Britain has lost its position as a global industrial leader since the 1970s, and Swedish export industries, which are world-famous, have lost the leadership they had in the 1990s, and were gradually bought by foreign investors, who dismantled them into profit-generating companies, and disposed of increasingly unproductive parts.

In France, industry also declined due to global competition, as did Belgium, which was once an attractive center for foreign industrial investment.

In all these cases industrial decline was the result of domestic policy errors, ranging from an emphasis on welfare that became increasingly unaffordable, to crippling taxes, bureaucratic regulations, and union practices that industrialists considered “anti” to business.

German economy

Germany is next on the list of countries that will fall from the throne of industrial power. After two decades of slowly increasing taxes and relentless expansion of “environmental” regulations, what was once a driving force for the European economy is now heading towards collapse. The German economy is in dire need of “maintenance.” In fact, it needs much more than that, but at the very least the government in Berlin must implement a number of urgent reforms in order to stop the continuing loss of jobs, capital and industrial know-how.

Yet Berlin does nothing at all, as the German government remains “paralyzed,” due to the tensions inherent in a government made up of sharp ideological opponents.

As long as the Socialist Party and the moderate conservative Party continue to coexist in a ruling coalition, there will be no progress on meaningful structural political reforms, and while the coalition partners argue over highly anticipated disagreements over the federal government budget, the German economy continues to deteriorate, and the German people continue to sink into the kind of “industrial poverty” and “economic despair” that East Germans have experienced for the past half-century.

Eastern Europe

Nothing symbolizes the deterioration of the German economy more than the continuing migration of jobs and business investment to Eastern Europe, especially to Hungary, according to Hungary Today.

Mercedes-Benz is restructuring its European production network, and as confirmed by both the company and the Hungarian government, the production of Mercedes A-Class cars will be gradually transferred to Hungary starting this year. While the German auto giant talks about increasing efficiency, Hungarian politicians are celebrating the transfer of production, as it is considered a historic economic victory.

It is a great irony. For the past 15 years, Hungary has had a government with a largely conservative nationalist policy, and the ruling coalition in Berlin has been preventing it from partnering with Germany. The more the SPD-CDU-led coalition disdains the AfD and its nationalism, the more German industries will migrate to countries where that same nationalism has been practiced so successfully for many years.

The Hungarian city of Kishkemet, south of Budapest, is the beneficiary of the large investment by Mercedes, and this investment is supposed to add to the company’s already existing presence in the city. The Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Peter Szijjarto, said on Facebook that this is another sign of the strength of the Hungarian economy. He attributes this transfer of productive capital from Germany to the political stability in Hungary, its highly competitive tax system, and its workforce that enjoys “outstanding professional training.” About “European Conservative”

• Nothing symbolizes the deterioration of the German economy more than the migration of investments to Eastern Europe, especially Hungary.

• The strength of the Hungarian economy is due to its political stability, its competitive tax system, and its labor force.