Erik Fossing Nielsen

Europe the Beautiful! February has delivered important illustrations of the beauty of Europe, particularly compared with the US, across policy decisions, economic and markets performances - and confirmed by a fieldtrip...

Europe the Beautiful
Can’t beat it - latest illustrations from politics, the economy and markets (and verified on my hardship assignment to the French province)

open.substack.com/pub/independ...

As many of us “fundamental economists” have been predicting for a long time - without (before you claim you bought at $100) ever pretending we knew the turning point.

The US economy, Trump, and Bessent are weaker than you (and they) think. It’s been a bad week for Trump: Mark Carney stole the Davos show with his masterful speech, and Europe made him TACO on Greenland.

The US economy, Trump and Bessent: Outperformed and outplayed by Europe:

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For pure numbers:
Statistics Finland, Eurostat (or ChatGPT if you are lazy)
For research - good place to start:
OECD Finland report 2025
Bank of Finland
Nordic Investment Bank research

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The US economy, Trump, and Bessent are weaker than you (and they) think. It’s been a bad week for Trump: Mark Carney stole the Davos show with his masterful speech, and Europe made him TACO on Greenland.

The US economy, Trump and Bessent: Outperformed and outplayed by Europe:

open.substack.com/pub/independ...

ICE - cheap, safe and pretty good public transportion here in Europe.

I’m now waiting for Musk to forward this story and place it at the top of my feed, as he does with most other things.
(Maybe he is still struggling how to word the clarification that this is not just BYD expanding, but Tesla shrinking?)

Letter: Brexiters showed a naive understanding of how Europe works

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Thank you. You are right: It depends on what one includes in healthcare, but 2-3 times is more accurate. Thanks for pointing out.

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Year-end reflections: 10 lessons from 2025 – and one key prediction. I reflect on the year that has passed. I summarise 10 key lessons I learned – and I make one prediction for 2026, namely that there is still no better place to live, and invest, than in Europe.

10 lessons from 2025 - and one central prediction for the year ahead:

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Scandinavia got this one right!

A Continent of Power: Does Europe Know Its True Strength? | To The Point YouTube video by DW News

Thanks @deutschewelle.dw.com for including me in yesterday’s debate on Europe’s strengths - at a time of renewed attacks by Trump.
We could all agree that Trump is wrong - and that Europe needs to act in response to this new world

m.youtube.com/watch?v=yFRq...

Europe is finding its feet again Europe is about to agree an era-defining support package for Ukraine, supported by the European Commission. In economic policy matters, however, the Commission president seems to have lost her way.

Europe is about to step up in security matters, starting with the main to Ukraine, but Commission President has been distracted from her job leading the economic reform agenda. Three recent reports illustrate the wilderness she is in.

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Come join the debate!

Looking forward to it.

And rightly so!

The UK faces bigger challenges, and greatest risks, than you think The UK faces three major unique challenges and greater political risks than other large European countries do.

In today’s note:
The UK’s 3 unique challenges - which the government hasn’t even begun to acknowledge. This is worse than other European countries.

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Thanks for organising such an interesting panel discussion - and such a great conference.

Thanks.
For me, it’s no longer a question, but a need that has to be met if we are serious about boosting investment.

Europe needs explicit policies to direct capital flows My intervention at CER's Ditchley Park conference Friday-Saturday on 'Europe's precarious bid for third pole economic power': The need for explicit policies to redirect investments abroad to Europe.

My call for explicit policies in Europe to redirect the capital export to be invested in Europe instead of abroad.

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No reason to be sad about Europe, Mr President Trump says he is sad about Europe because of immigration and taxes. He has no reason to worry. Greetings from happy Denmark.

In today’s Sunday Wrap - from my summer house in Denmark (on this winter morning):
I remind Trump - who says he is sad about what happened to Europe due to immigration, crime and taxes, that he needs not worry.

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Lately I’m one of the few who has any optimism left about Germanys potential - alongside folks like @erikfossingnielsen.bsky.social

The sense of doom and gloom amongst German experts and policy-makers themselves is quite something.

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Strange. You may have to sign on to it at Substack (it’s free).

Alternatively, if you email me at EFN@independent-economics.com I’ll send it to you.

I wasn’t “praising it so much”. All I did was to note it’s higher than the US (which is the country of comparison in this note)