Europe in decline? Nope! Stronger than ever, claims Dopey Doug at the Globe & Mail

Last year the GDP of the EU grew by 1.4%, but inflation was 2.4%. As long as inflation trumps GDP "growth," your economy isn't growing, it's shrinking. Three countries account for over half of EU economic activity. Germany, France, and Italy all reported GDP growth under 1% last year. In other words, the industrial core of the EU economy is shrinking even faster than the economy as a whole. Globe & Mail columnist Doug Saunders, clearly a glass-half-full kinda guy, calls this "a moment of economic rebirth." According to Doug, the EU is only now emerging from a soft spot caused by "the transition away from Russian energy, a shortage of public investment, and Trump's tarrifs." That transition away from Russian pipeline gas to American LNG means energy intensive manufacturing is no longer competitive. EU's collective 200 billion+ euro commitment to Ukraine no doubt had an impact on public investment at home.Based on the numbers above, it's hard to see European heavy industry "emerging" from anything, except maybe bankruptcy, if they're lucky. Doug sees more good news in the fact that the EU has refined its borrowing rules to permit its members to take on collective debt. He approvingly cites a pending loan of $146 billions to support Ukraine, as if that will strengthen the EU economy. Doug is also thrilled to see freedom of speech being championed in Europe even as it is under attack in America. I don't know about that. Condemning Israel's mass murder and ethnic cleansing is forbidden speech on both sides of the Atlantic. Beyond that, there's a guy on trial in Poland for calling the prime minister a "moron." German Chancellor Mertz has filed hundreds of criminal complaints over the course of his political career against commenters who offended his feelings. Far as I know, insulting politicians remains normal practice across the political spectrum in America. Doug is particularly distraught over Trump's deportation drive. "As U.S. cities have exploded in deadly violence, turning places like Nicollet Ave. in Minneapolis into “no-go” zones where armed officers menace and sometimes kill citizens, Europe has entered a time of profound peace. Last year saw many European countries report the lowest crime figures in at least a decade – and Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Poland and Britain all are now recording the lowest violent-crime and overall-crime rates in their recorded history." In the first place, it's silly to claim "armed officers menace and sometimes kill citizens" as something new in American society, introduced by Trump himself. That's just stupid. Armed officers menacing and sometimes killing citizens is as American as apple pie! Secondly, if Doug acquainted himself with the latest stats he'd add the USA to the list of countries with record declines in violent crime. That would defeat Dopey Doug's purpose, which is not to tell us anything about Europe, but to assure Globe readers that he really despises Donald Trump. Here's another awkward fact, Doug; there were more deportations under Clinton, Bush, Obama, and Biden than there have been under Trump.