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Facing reality about the EU is a core requirement for good management

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Re: Facing reality about the EU is a core requirement for good management

#181

Post by nemo44x »

overstay8930 wrote: post #137

You can say the EU is doing good or bad, but what is reality is that this blog post is ignoring is that the European economy is kind of just falling apart right now directly because of these types of regulations and reforms. German labor unions are the weakest they’ve been in decades, Europe as a whole is an incredibly undesirable place to run a business in 2024, and EU companies have rested on their laurels so long…

Yeah Europe (EU) has not performed the last 15+ years. Falling further behind the USA and parts of Asia is set to replace them in terms of stature. Limited technical innovation, disastrous energy policy, weak international demand, and an unaddressed migrant and reproduction crisis that will pressure their 20th century social systems, spell a bleak future for the EU.

I expect tourism to continue to be strong as the prosperous from the US and Asia take in the charm of the old world.

Re: Facing reality about the EU is a core requirement for good management

#182

Post by classified »

dkjaudyeqooe wrote: post #10

What amazes and perplexes me is that Apple thinks it can effectively play politics against the EU and that somehow their customers will back them in the face of the "consequences" Apple applies, which are pretty transparent and really quite amateurish (eg no more web apps for you!). As the article states, the first mistake Apple makes is thinking the EU is somehow like the US, but I can't see how any large proportion…

> ...thinking the EU is somehow like the US...

I suspect US-ians in general have a hard time realizing that the US is not the only planet in the universe. It is part of the culture to assume that the US way of doing things is universal.

Re: Facing reality about the EU is a core requirement for good management

#183

Post by carlosjobim »

dkjaudyeqooe wrote: post #10

What amazes and perplexes me is that Apple thinks it can effectively play politics against the EU and that somehow their customers will back them in the face of the "consequences" Apple applies, which are pretty transparent and really quite amateurish (eg no more web apps for you!). As the article states, the first mistake Apple makes is thinking the EU is somehow like the US, but I can't see how any large proportion…

> EU citizens haven't been brainwashed into thinking that their government is their enemy, at least not to the same extent as the US.

US citizens haven't been brainwashed into thinking that their government is their friend, at least not to the same extent as the EU.

Honestly, if you talk to real people within the EU, you'll find that maybe half of them are mostly against the EU. Real life is not the same as HN, because most citizens are not part of the "elite" that benefits the most from EU programs and systems. Like all governments there are very good things about the EU and very bad things. And somebody has to pay for their maintenance.

You should be concerned if your thought patterns are healthy if you dismiss everybody with a different opinion as yours as "brainwashed". It doesn't help you in the long run.

Re: Facing reality about the EU is a core requirement for good management

#184

Post by hef19898 »

overstay8930 wrote: post #165
7moritz7 wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> rapidly declining Source? I need it urgently because a lot of my money is on the stock market both in the US and EU and I seem to have missed something significant

You know the eurozone is in a recession right?

Except it isn't?

Re: Facing reality about the EU is a core requirement for good management

#185

Post by pydry »

voxic11 wrote: post #142
pydry wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>It does seem they've mistaken the general sentiment towards government regulation in europe, which is typically, "more, better". The notion of regulation as being on a sliding scale where "more is worse" was a manufactured American meme created by the Kochs in the 1980s. It emerged from some of their epic fights with the environmental protection agency and their subsequent lobbying and public relations outreach effo…

Atlas Shrugged was published in 1957, I'm pretty sure people opposed excessive government regulation before the 1980s.

The idea of opposing excessive regulation isn't the same thing as this idea that regulation is a sliding scale with "more = worse" and "less = better". But yes, opposition to regulations did exist before. The former isn't a Koch thing, the latter is.

Atlas Shrugged was more the manifestation of the wet dreams of snowflake industrialists who felt intimidated by union power and communism (which were significant in the 50s, hence the rise of the middle class).

Re: Facing reality about the EU is a core requirement for good management

#186

Post by troupo »

CalRobert wrote: post #172
troupo wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing in the law requires those cookie banners. If you don't agree, you can quote to me the exact passage in the GDPR where it talks about cookies, banners, or browsers. Or you can read what Github has to say about this: https://github.blog/2020-12-17-no-cookie-for-you/

The cookie law predates the GDPR by several years. See discussion at https://yro.slashdot.org/story/09/11/13/1348222/breathtaking... for instance

Even that law (which got updated along to align with GDPR IIRC) does't require the cookie banners that the industry has barfed up.

Re: Facing reality about the EU is a core requirement for good management

#187

Post by llm_trw »

Jochim wrote: post #148
llm_trw wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think there needs to be a word like "Paris syndrome" for when Americans meet actual Europeans and find out their politics. I've not met anyone who doesn't work in Brussels who thinks the EU isn't a dysfunctional pile of shit. The most spirited defense I've heard of it is "Well at least it keeps the Germans from invading again.". > The EU, it's better than genocide, by a bit - probably. -- Enthusiastic EU supporter,…

Most people who aren't working in Brussels have zero idea about how the EU functions at all. Brexit voting towns that were shocked to find various programs shuttered once they got what they'd voted for are a great example of this.

Were they? Or did a Yankee journalist write another hit piece about rednecks (with a funny accent to boot) getting what they deserved?

At any rate relying on EU programs is a fools errand, they pull them up at the drop of a hat to discipline governments. Imagine if Trump could block all federal spending in California because he didn't like their politics.

Re: Facing reality about the EU is a core requirement for good management

#188

Post by Aerroon »

troupo wrote: post #61
paulsutter wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes each time we see these cookie warnings, we admire a system that does so much to our benefit

Nothing in the law requires those cookie banners. If you don't agree, you can quote to me the exact passage in the GDPR where it talks about cookies, banners, or browsers. Or you can read what Github has to say about this: https://github.blog/2020-12-17-no-cookie-for-you/

Can you tell that to these guys: https://www.europa.eu

That website basically has an infinite budget and doesn't have to make a single cent. It is also for the group that should have the best understanding of the law. Yet they still give you the cookie popup.

Re: Facing reality about the EU is a core requirement for good management

#189

Post by mjburgess »

bengale wrote: post #78
mjburgess wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It does seem they've mistaken the general sentiment towards government regulation in europe, which is typically, "more, better". Since we have so many consumer protections, much of how we end up engaging with the law around business practices is to our benefit . We're always aware we can raise bad business practices with an ombudsman (etc.). So our lived experience of government regulation is, in large part, positive…

> the general sentiment towards government regulation in europe, which is typically, "more, better". I'd need to be convinced that's true. More regulation was a huge part of the successful campaign to get the UK out of the EU. It seems to get effusive praise in places like this, but in daily business, I generally hear the term GDPR spat. Is anyone expecting the incoming car regulation around beeps and bongs every tim…

note that since leaving the EU, UK regulators have been widely seen (by business and finance) to take a more risk-averse attitude on the EU across all new comptences brought in (eg, food standards, chemical standards, etc.).

The 52% who voted to leave were not voting for a massive deregulated society. In most cases, actually the opposite: "bring back control"

Re: Facing reality about the EU is a core requirement for good management

#190

Post by bambax »

Really great article! With simple yet profound and general observations, such as:

> The EU, as an organisation, has a specific economic theory that guides most of its actions. Once you understand the theory, they become very predictable.

> Any time you see two entities of similar size fight, bet on the one that thinks it’s fighting for its life.

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