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Stop Generalizing About Europe

jonasbentzen.com

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Re: Stop Generalizing About Europe

#161

Post by jonascopenhagen »

VeejayRampay wrote: post #146
jonascopenhagen wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Only some of the LARGEST countries, for a total of 332 million people. Not to mention that he did say "most". 332 million is less than half of Europe's population. That's not "most of Europe" by any stretch. > It's not like someone will go to invest blindly to the _geographic region_ that is Europe. He will most likely go to what is called Western Europe, or the EU. Even Western Europe has huge differences in buyin…

If you're going to base all your thing on a totally unrealistic vision of Europe then yeah, your points stand. But so we're clear, all the points the original article was making was about Europe as a an economic entity, most likely not including the likes of Ruasia and Kazakhstan (which you're obviously not afraid to do to reach that quite ludicrous and irrelevant figure of 750+ million people). At this rate you migh…

> If you're going to base all your thing on a totally unrealistic vision of Europe then yeah, your points stand.

That's like saying the US only consists of New York + D.C. + the Midwest + California.

> all the points the original article was making was about Europe as a an economic entity

Then why didn't he write "the EU" instead of "Europe"? But even if he had, many of his statements would still be wrong. For instance much of what he said didn't apply to Germany (and that's a pretty solid player in the EU).

Re: Stop Generalizing About Europe

#162

Post by carbocation »

erebrus wrote: post #117
carbocation wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd wager that they also can't name the fastest growing economy in the United States. What of it?

I can name the fastest growing national economy in the USA. It's easy...there is only one nation. In Europe, there are 50... how hard to get can this be?

That's trivial, and obviously not the point of this offshoot thread. While the federal government regulates interstate commerce, each state is free to set up its own tax structure, create different incentives for businesses to open up shop, etc. And each state has its own set of natural resources and hazards.

The question of which US state has the fastest growing economy is equally interesting as the GP's question about European economies.

Re: Stop Generalizing About Europe

#163

Post by arethuza »

rmc wrote: post #89
PoliticsJunkie wrote: post #53

Created an account just to state this: tech people please don't go into discussing politics / economics. Brits want to exit EU because of wars in the past? This is ridiculous! What about the real reasons: 1. Britain has 70% of its laws created by the EU by burocrats who were never voted into the office and can't be voted out of the office: Barroso (President of the European Commission) and Von Rumpoy (whatever his na…

2 or 3 of the countries in the UK are not "Anglo-Saxon" countries, but would be "Celtic" countries. :P Additionally the UK does elect and choose EU legislators, in the European Parliament & Council of Minsiters, European Commission, etc. etc.

Not to mention there is a distinct possibility that the UK will itself break up in the next few years.

Re: Stop Generalizing About Europe

#164

Post by wildranter »

jacquesm wrote: post #87
Vivtek wrote: post #4

Hmm. Perhaps you could stop generalizing about people generalizing about Europe. Varsavsky has lived and built businesses in Madrid since 1995, so I think that his contrasts between the European market and the American market from the entrepreneur's point of view are really pretty trustworthy. Your points about European diversity are quite valid, although I think they're beside the point. But your ad hominem "Oh my,…

> his contrasts between the European market and the American market from the entrepreneur's point of view are really pretty trustworthy. They're not. And I've run businesses in lots of different countries as well. Martin is on the ball when it comes to comparing Spain the US, but his contrasts between the European and the American market from the entrepreneurs point of view are way off the mark. He should have simply…

> in the EU it is a lot harder to be a dick to your employees

Instead, I'd rephrase that as giving a proper response to employees that are being dicks to your business.

Varsavsky might have gotten wrong most of his observations about developing a startup in EU. But one that he nailed was the advice about employees getting paid medical leaves without really needing them just to screw their employers.

As he said, if you're in this position, get a PI to gather evidence against that employee, and by all means, BE A DICK!

Re: Stop Generalizing About Europe

#165

Post by arethuza »

VeejayRampay wrote: post #146
jonascopenhagen wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Only some of the LARGEST countries, for a total of 332 million people. Not to mention that he did say "most". 332 million is less than half of Europe's population. That's not "most of Europe" by any stretch. > It's not like someone will go to invest blindly to the _geographic region_ that is Europe. He will most likely go to what is called Western Europe, or the EU. Even Western Europe has huge differences in buyin…

If you're going to base all your thing on a totally unrealistic vision of Europe then yeah, your points stand. But so we're clear, all the points the original article was making was about Europe as a an economic entity, most likely not including the likes of Ruasia and Kazakhstan (which you're obviously not afraid to do to reach that quite ludicrous and irrelevant figure of 750+ million people). At this rate you migh…

Russia and Kazakhstan (and also Turkey) are transcontinental countries with parts in Europe:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_transcontinental_countr...

The population of Europe is 739 million and going by the number of Russians I meet here in Scotland and on holiday in France and the Med they seem to be joining in pretty well with the European cultural milieu...

I suspect people from outside of Europe don't appreciate how much things have changed in the last 25 years - all for the better as far as I can see:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europe

Re: Stop Generalizing About Europe

#166

Post by erebrus »

kmfrk wrote: post #41
arethuza wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Turkey isn't in the EU.

They've been struggling to become a part of the EU, though. Could be what he meant.

Seemed more that he was giving an example of how Turkey was a country that was pulling the Eurozone down from within... illustrating the depth of his understanding of the geography and economy of the region...

Re: Stop Generalizing About Europe

#167

Post by arethuza »

xradionut wrote: post #135
espadrine wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I could make an almost identical argument about the usage of terms like "Americans". I hear you and partly agree, but the comparison is a stretch. In USA, how many hours by car do you need to find a local that doesn't speak your language? The very same ad can easily be broadcast US-wide. Never do that in Europe (not that anyone has ever tried). Trying to impose a law on all EU countries alone is usually unsuccessfu…

"In USA, how many hours by car do you need to find a local that doesn't speak your language?" Zero. The janitors and the landscapers of the company don't speak much English. The baker at the ethnic grocery down the street doesn't speak English, but his daughter does.

Depends on your definition of "a local" - I may have lived in a particular city for 30 years, doesn't make me "a local". In fact, I can think of places (I grew up in one) where being "a local" required multiple generations.

Re: Stop Generalizing About Europe

#168

Post by rmah »

espadrine wrote: post #73
mbell wrote: post #5

I could make an almost identical argument about the usage of terms like "Americans". The states and even cities themselves are all very different.

> I could make an almost identical argument about the usage of terms like "Americans". I hear you and partly agree, but the comparison is a stretch. In USA, how many hours by car do you need to find a local that doesn't speak your language? The very same ad can easily be broadcast US-wide. Never do that in Europe (not that anyone has ever tried). Trying to impose a law on all EU countries alone is usually unsuccessfu…

In USA, how many hours by car do you need to find a local that doesn't speak your language?

I don't have to drive. Last week, I walked to a local deli and heard the following languages on the street within a few minutes: english, spanish, russian, chinese, polish(maybe, not sure) and arabic.

Re: Stop Generalizing About Europe

#169

Post by pretoriusB »

erebrus wrote: post #112
klapinat0r wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's as if someone talked about investing in the US, and someone felt obliged to blog about the differences between Illinois and New York and rural Idaho, Mississippi, Alabama and South Dakota. This, exactly, seems to be the point OP is missing.

It's all about scale. That is the point that almost everyone else is missing! The differences between New York and rural Idaho, in all, are smaller than the differences between Greece and Norway. They are however comparable to the differences between North and Southern Italy. Scale

>It's all about scale. That is the point that almost everyone else is missing! The differences between New York and rural Idaho, in all, are smaller than the differences between Greece and Norway.

You'd be surprised.

Rural Idaho and New York have very little in common in buying preferences, business opportunities, employment opportunities, cost of living, potential market and such.

And New York and parts of Mississippi or South Dakota have even less. Would you base an startup on Holly Ridge or Indianola?

Heck, there are parts of South Dakota (the Indian reservations) that have a life expectancy of 48 years -- a third world like number.

Re: Stop Generalizing About Europe

#170

Post by jwr »

crazygringo wrote: post #34

This post feels awfully pedantic. While it may not be clear to non-Americans, when Americans talk about "Europe", they're generally talking about Western Europe, not Eastern, and are excluding the UK too. They almost certainly aren't including Russia. (Just like when Americans talk about Asia, they aren't usually thinking of India.) Of course, that's geographically inaccurate -- but it's what we usually mean. The Eur…

You just proved OP's point. What's "Eastern Europe"? I'm guessing you'd consider anything east of Germany/Austria/Italy to be "Eastern", right? Well, in Poland and the Czech Republic people consider themselves "Central Europe", which makes sense given that geographically Europe extends to the Ural mountains.

Don't generalize.

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