Technocracy cannot fix Europe
A new private initiative bringing together the crème de la crème of European business, financial, economic and tech elites could well prove useful in kick-starting European growth and innovation. But first, it must recognize that the problem it hopes to solve is fundamentally political.
The Rhine Group, a private initiative of European business, financial, and tech leaders, aims to revitalize Europe's innovation and competitiveness. However, its approach may be flawed. The group, led by Mario Draghi and Patrick Collison, consists of high-profile figures such as Nobel laureates and former policymakers. Despite the urgency of Europe's technological decline and dependence on foreign technologies, the Rhine Group's solution is vague: "Europe must compete, build and grow again."
The group fails to address the political nature of the problem, instead focusing on technical solutions that may redistribute power and resources across countries and social groups. This lack of political vision is problematic, as common mechanisms like borrowing, industrial subsidies, and regulatory simplification could address the issue but may face political resistance.
The Rhine Group's focus on creating more American-sized technology companies overlooks the deeper question of whether this is Europe's problem at all.
Written by urgent.news from The Jakarta Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
