"The Lisbon agenda identified the symptoms of Europe's malaise - lower growth, loss of competitiveness, widening technology gap - but misdiagnosed the disease," Mr González said. "Europe suffers from an extraordinary corporate rigidity," he said. "And I am not only talking about the power of trade unions and labour rights. There is also enormous rigidity on the corporate side. You only have to compare the rankings of US and European companies now and 30 years ago. Most of the top US companies today were not around in the 1980s. There is a lot of mobility: it is a system that rewards risk, initiative and efficiency and allows companies to succeed as well as to fail. "In Europe, there have been hardly any changes in the corporate rankings. Business, labour and political elites protect each other. We stifle innovation. That is why Europe has failed to produce a Bill Gates. It is a cultural problem." Mr González said.
"Europe suffers from an extraordinary corporate rigidity," he said. "And I am not only talking about the power of trade unions and labour rights. There is also enormous rigidity on the corporate side. You only have to compare the rankings of US and European companies now and 30 years ago. Most of the top US companies today were not around in the 1980s. There is a lot of mobility: it is a system that rewards risk, initiative and efficiency and allows companies to succeed as well as to fail.
"In Europe, there have been hardly any changes in the corporate rankings. Business, labour and political elites protect each other. We stifle innovation. That is why Europe has failed to produce a Bill Gates. It is a cultural problem." Mr González said.
Europe has failed to produce a Bill Gates
Better not!
Sorry, but my impression is that Felipe got stuck in a lighter version of Third-Wayism. *Traitor*, n. A benighted individual who perceives an illusory distinction between serving his nation and abetting the criminals who govern it.
