Is Europe becoming uninvestable?

[Dalal.Holdings]

Not to worry, Brussels will provide a "massive" 20B EUR to build AI datacenters--what META spends in 2 months on Capex now...Lol

 

https://www.politico.eu/article/eu-accused-wasting-20-billion-euro-ai-computing-dreams/

 

All dreamed up by Ursula. The AI center will need to be GDPR and AI Act compliant and totally carbon neutral of course !

 

I'm sure the centrally planned AI hubs will be successful like all of the EU's plans !

 

[Dalal.Holdings]

 

 

 

 

Norway going to drill more in the North Sea and then sell the gas to the UK and Germany. LMAO…

Some nations like Norway approach the world strategically while others like Germany and the UK do the opposite. It’s no wonder why Norway is prospering while the other two are mired in stagnation.
 

I do love the total irony of politicians from the UK and Germany giving advice and commentary on how other countries like the U.S. should operate given their own self inflicted stagnation…

[Spekulatius]

On 5/4/2026 at 5:28 PM, james22 said:

 

Probably  in the 80’s and 90’s. Look at what get funding nowadays in the USA and how much. For the better or the worse, I think founders don’t have to resort to garages any more.

[james22]

[Sweet]

On 5/6/2026 at 3:03 PM, Dalal.Holdings said:

 

 

 

 

Norway going to drill more in the North Sea and then sell the gas to the UK and Germany. LMAO…

Some nations like Norway approach the world strategically while others like Germany and the UK do the opposite. It’s no wonder why Norway is prospering while the other two are mired in stagnation.
 

I do love the total irony of politicians from the UK and Germany giving advice and commentary on how other countries like the U.S. should operate given their own self inflicted stagnation…

The UK government keeps bullshitting the public that there is no oil left in the North Sea, when you can find independent estimates of quite a lot in U.K. waters.  We are a joke country.

[Dalal.Holdings]

2 hours ago, Sweet said:

The UK government keeps bullshitting the public that there is no oil left in the North Sea, when you can find independent estimates of quite a lot in U.K. waters.  We are a joke country.

They are lying so they can keep the environmentalists happy. It's fine if they bring the country to the brink of ruin as long as they don't upset those people...

[cubsfan]

3 hours ago, Sweet said:

The UK government keeps bullshitting the public that there is no oil left in the North Sea, when you can find independent estimates of quite a lot in U.K. waters.  We are a joke country.

 

I'm confident people like you @Sweet will save the UK.

 

It's ugly in the USA - very ugly - painful but worth it.

[Sweet]

8 hours ago, Dalal.Holdings said:

They are lying so they can keep the environmentalists happy. It's fine if they bring the country to the brink of ruin as long as they don't upset those people...

It’s worse I fear.  Some of these true believers are in government.  They can’t do basic carbon balance sheet accounting.  The reductions in carbon in the UK have been dwarfed by increases elsewhere.  Heavy industry doesn’t stop, it just goes somewhere else, oil and gas will be extracted, just by other countries.

 

7 hours ago, cubsfan said:

 

I'm confident people like you @Sweet will save the UK.

 

It's ugly in the USA - very ugly - painful but worth it.

Lol, for years I’ve been the most ‘right wing’ in nearly every conversation I’ve had with friends.  It’s funny to watch many of them over time move closer to my political positions.  However, I’m not very optimistic.  I don’t think the U.K. will mount a turnaround.

[Dalal.Holdings]

7 hours ago, Sweet said:

It’s worse I fear.  Some of these true believers are in government.  They can’t do basic carbon balance sheet accounting.  The reductions in carbon in the UK have been dwarfed by increases elsewhere.  Heavy industry doesn’t stop, it just goes somewhere else, oil and gas will be extracted, just by other countries.

 

Yes this is true: there are a lot of crazed lefty ideologues in power not just in the UK but across Europe. Brussels Crew/EU is their headquarters. These people think they are smarter than everyone else because they became brainwashed by dogma in years of schooling and they have the fancy degrees to show it...

 

The question is what is going to change this? I think it's going to be political upheaval since these idiots in charge don't learn from their own mistakes.

[Dalal.Holdings]

A lot of the UK's energy woes can be blamed on the monarchy--what do you expect from an aristocratic class of people who live off generational trust funds (really massive welfare from their country) and have never had to really work a day in their lives ?

 

https://newsletter.doomberg.com/p/contrarian-indicators

 

Quote

“My Ministers believe that energy independence must be a long-term goal of national security and that the nation’s energy security requires long-term investment and reform, as demonstrated by recent events in the Middle East. Increased production of clean British energy will help to ensure that enemies of the United Kingdom cannot attack the economic security of the British people. My Ministers will therefore introduce an Energy Independence Bill to scale-up homegrown renewable energy and protect living standards for the long-term.”

 

Quote

Briefing documents released with the speech’s transcript make clear that new licenses to explore the North Sea would be made illegal and fracking would be permanently banned.

 

Quote

“BP Plc is considering potentially exiting part or all of its operations in the UK North Sea, people familiar with the matter said, as the oil giant works to strip assets and pay down debt. London-listed BP is conducting an internal review of its upstream operations in the UK, which could fetch about £2 billion ($2.7 billion) in a full divestment, according to the people…

The company is among the last remaining oil majors operating in the UK North Sea, with peers such as Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips having sold assets. Others like Shell Plc, Exxon Mobil Corp. and TotalEnergies SE have moved to divest or restructure parts of their positions, including through joint ventures.”

 

The monarchy is clueless and ordinary citizens will pay as a result...well hey, good for Norway...who knows, maybe one day they can buy the British Monarchy or the entire UK outright...

 

I think any heavy industry in the UK is uninvestable until proven otherwise.

[Dalal.Holdings]

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/german-autos-climate-mandates-regulations-abdc041d

 

Has the WSJ Editorial Board been reading this thread?

 

Quote

If the road to economic hell is paved with good intentions, don’t expect to see many German cars driving on it. Green mandates and other regulations are killing jobs in the long-revered German auto industry, as a new report from an industry association warns.

Quote

The broader problem is an uncompetitive business environment. “High taxes and levies, expensive energy, high labor costs, excessive bureaucracy—the list of challenges goes on,” the report says. 

 

[james22]

 

[james22]

 

[cubsfan]

21 minutes ago, james22 said:

 

 

Been seeing it for 2-3 years now. Hopefully the Europeans finally do something about it.

[cubsfan]

21 minutes ago, james22 said:

 

 

The "managed decline" of the USA was sold to us over and over by Obama and friends. But one man has had the courage to say no way.  

Europe just needs new leadership.

[Dalal.Holdings]

20 hours ago, james22 said:

 

The problem is that European countries have generous welfare/social safety nets so they do not feel the decline just yet and do not complain much. They say “our healthcare and lifestyle is better” as their GDP share grinds down…the problem is that one day all of a sudden the chickens will come home to roost and the social handouts will collapse all at once

[Sweet]

I mean it’s not really a decline in the way the Chinese was.  They simply got so far ahead and the rest are finally catching up.  Loving standards are fine, they are good companies.  Everything is actually OK… but that’s sort of the problem too.  When everything is fine they just keep muddling on.

 

Much of this isn’t even economics.  There is a decline in culture and people.  Birth rates are terrible, demographics are aging and declining.  They need to fix that first.  

[Lazarus]

It's not that simple, Sweet. The USA hasn't declined it's share of global GDP.

[Sweet]

9 minutes ago, Lazarus said:

It's not that simple, Sweet. The USA hasn't declined its share of global GDP.

But it has, just not as much as Europe.  We are talking about relative decline in Europe, living standards are still improving.
 

Plus, America is a different beast.  It dynamic, innovative and entrepreneurial while Europe is just… ‘fine’.

 

Edited Thursday at 10:03 PM by Sweet

[Lazarus]

Does the info above show the USA share of global GDP has increased from 2008 to 2025?

[Sweet]

29 minutes ago, Lazarus said:

Does the info above show the USA share of global GDP has increased from 2008 to 2025?

Does the measurement period have to start at 2008?

 

Europe and America was like 75% of global GDP at one point.

[CorpRaider]

VGK has posted a 17.33% CAGR over the life of this thread.  VEA has done 21.04%.  I like it even more risk adjusted because was cheap/obvious.  You could really lay the wood to it.  Has not required a bubble to get there.  Just felt like someone should acknowledge it.  

Edited Thursday at 11:01 PM by CorpRaider

[james22]

6 hours ago, Sweet said:

I mean it’s not really a decline in the way the Chinese was.  

 

No, no external (Opium Wars) or internal (Taiping Rebellion) excuses.

 

No excuse at all.

[Sweet]

3 hours ago, james22 said:

 

No, no external (Opium Wars) or internal (Taiping Rebellion) excuses.

 

No excuse at all.

Europe had two world wars bro, fought predominantly on their soil, and a Cold War that split the continent in half.  Major facepalm.

 

In any case I’m not arguing that there hasn’t been a relative decline of Europe, or America to a lesser degree.

 

For Europe, it was about 25% of the global population 100 years ago and now it’s about 8%.  That’s a major factor.  It was industrialised long before the rest of the world, who are now catching up.

 

America’s percent of globally population has been relatively stable surprisingly, but there really is such a thing as American exceptionalism.  No other country is like it.  Europe could try being a bit more like America.

 

Edited Friday at 06:44 AM by Sweet

[Spekulatius]

13 hours ago, CorpRaider said:

VGK has posted a 17.33% CAGR over the life of this thread.  VEA has done 21.04%.  I like it even more risk adjusted because was cheap/obvious.  You could really lay the wood to it.  Has not required a bubble to get there.  Just felt like someone should acknowledge it.  

This thread is not for investing, it’s for ranting. Reported.

Edited Friday at 12:57 PM by Spekulatius