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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

#331

Post by Tabular-Iceberg »

Speaking of facing reality about European politics, the so-called “fascism” that commentators such as this like to clutch their pearls over bears absolutely no resemblance to any of the actual 20th century European fascist movements. It’s just plain old Christian Democratic centrism of just a few of decades ago, of which coincidentally the EU happens to be the very brainchild.

Anyone who values the EU single market should be very wary of pushing the Overton window so far to one side that the values that it was founded on and is sustained by falls off the other edge, and this goes for both directions, left and right.

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

#332

Post by indymike »

throwup238 wrote: post #323
indymike wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> All of that also with the view that probably most people are shocked that it is actually possible to have an actual war in Europe again. Compound interest is powerful, and works both ways. Under-spending on defense for a decade or too leaves large gaps in defense capability. The US overspends, but doesn't always spend on the right things. A good example not having enough artillery ammunition.

> A good example not having enough artillery ammunition. US military doctrine doesn’t use much artillery anymore so why would it still spend a lot on artillery ammunition? US uses maneuver warfare with air support and precision munitions. No one expected to provide a bunch of logistics support to a non-NATO ally that uses our Cold War enemy’s doctrine.

> No one expected to provide a bunch of logistics support to a non-NATO ally that uses our Cold War enemy’s doctrine.

Rephrase: No one expected a real land war in Europe without establishing air superiority.

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

#333

Post by quitit »

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…

>somehow their customers will back them in the face of the "consequences" Apple applies

Could you elaborate on this point? I'm not sure what their customers would even be able to do in apple's favour? Discussions on tax and anticompetitive activity is largely niche, and even here the facts don't get in the way of the court of public opinion:

Take each of these major tax/anticompetitive headline grabbers from the last few years:

Apple Owes $14.5 Billion in Back Taxes to Ireland, E.U. Says - New York Times.

Apple hit with record €1.1bn fine in France - BBC

Italian antitrust watchdog fines Apple, Amazon more than $225m - Al Jazeera.

And it's about there where most readers stop, but what actually happened after this point?

1. The latest ruling in the 14BN irish tax saga was in Apple's favour, and since then it's taken around 3 years for the EU to file their appeal. So that is still on-going with the EU on the back foot.

2. The record French 1.1Bn antitrust fine, reduced to a third, and the appeals process is still incomplete.

3. The 225M fine from the Italian antitrust authority was struck down entirely.

These are judgements from the EU's own courts, which lends credibility to the people who make cynical statements about the various EU agencies application of these fines.

For this reason I scoff when I read an editorial which describes the USA as protectionist in comparison to the EU. The evidence is to the contrary.

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

#334

Post by bojan »

xdennis wrote: post #299
bojan wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would it be ridiculous, if a truck has a Bulgarian license plate it's a reasonable expectation that it's based in Bulgaria.

In a "free" market why would a Bulgarian be forced to operate only near Bulgaria? As an example, all food in Romania is from the Netherlands or other foreign countries. But you don't see the EU imposing regulations to make foreign food more expensive. Essentially eastern Europe is an exploitation market: everything is manufactured in the west, and when the east has an advantage it's immediately shut down. This is als…

> In a "free" market why would a Bulgarian be forced to operate only near Bulgaria?

But this isn't about a Bulgarian person - this is about a truck registered in Bulgaria. That means that the registration fees and taxes, which are a national responsibility and are not at the EU-level, are paid in Bulgaria.

So if you only drive the truck in, say, France, you're essentially evading French taxes for the said truck.

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

#336

Post by smoldesu »

marcosdumay wrote: post #264
dangus wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The sheer volume of electric car startup companies shows that Elon Musk was in the right place at the right time. The reason there are a lot of EV startups is because the powertrain is simple. You don’t need an army of engine plants and parts suppliers to build an EV. That is the disruptive part about the EV, which has nothing to do with anything unique to Elon Musk. Also, he didn’t found the company, he was just an…

It's as if everybody just forgot that the world was full of propaganda against electric cars (hey, hydrogen is the future!), regulation was heavily stopping any car startup, and the catch-22 problem of not being able to charge because nobody had electric cars existed. Nobody was making a car startup on that scene. It's been what, a decade and half? It's amazing how people forget.

A hydrogen pump just got installed in my county last month, actually.

> regulation was heavily stopping any car startup, and the catch-22 problem of not being able to charge because nobody had electric cars existed.

Now we have electric subsidies and replete charging stations, and we're not really any closer to democratizing the technology. I'll be real - the focus on scaling-up lithium-ion has been detrimental to the electric car industry, and set them back so far that hydrogen ignition might still win the lower-end market. Tesla put their pearls before their swine, and now it feels like they're paying the price.

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

#337

Post by silverquiet »

alipang wrote: post #113
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…

The idea that anyone who's opposed to narrow government regulations is somehow brainwashed by the Kochs is just an unsufferably smug attitude towards people you disagree with. It's like the "funded by George Soros therefore bad" you sometimes see on the right. I'm sure they've spent money on promoting this, but there's many reasons you'd come to this conclusion other than having it "manufactured" for you by billionai…

> Even on death’s doorstep, Trevor was not angry. In fact, he staunchly supported the stance promoted by his elected officials. “Ain’t no way I would ever support Obamacare or sign up for it,” he told me. “I would rather die.” When I asked him why he felt this way even as he faced severe illness, he explained: “We don’t need any more government in our lives. And in any case, no way I want my tax dollars paying for Mexicans or welfare queens.”

https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/jonathan-m-metzl-dying...

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

#338

Post by jocaal »

Lutger wrote: post #290
redwood wrote: post #15

I understand where the author is coming from and It is important to have a realist perspective on what is driving European strategy or else we will be in denial. I think it's also important to recognize that the west are interconnected in many real ways beyond economic. The first and most clearly top of mind recently is the US defense umbrella which allows the EU to invest on other things instead of defense. Another…

> The first and most clearly top of mind recently is the US defense umbrella which allows the EU to invest on other things instead of defense. And also to have the US stay in control, that was the deal post WW2. This is changing though, looking at how much EU countries spend in terms of GDP they are slowly closing in on the US. Some countries are even outspending the US on this metric. There is a real urgency to beco…

> And also to have the US stay in control, that was the deal post WW2. This is changing though, looking at how much EU countries spend in terms of GDP they are slowly closing in on the US

a quick search said the EU spent 240B euro on defense in 2022, that number is likely higher now. That isn't a small amount. If you bundled the EU as a country, that would be 3rd on the list, and puts their military spending in the same class as china. The EU isn't piggy backing off the US for defense, the US is just spending an obscene amount on defense, because how else do you make the shareholders of the military industrial complex obscenely rich?

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

#339

Post by littlestymaar »

kerkeslager wrote: post #159
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

There are two systems at play when you see a cookie warning: 1. Businesses trying to violate your privacy. 2. A government trying to protect you from said businesses. Either of these entities could avoid the cookie warning, but there are very different reasons why they do not.

> 2. A government trying to protect you from said businesses.

While still protecting the “business freedom” of the said business.

They could have forbidden cookies and tracking altogether, but they are too probusiness for that.

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

#340

Post by Lutger »

mpol wrote: post #121
Lutger wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For some definition of left. The interesting thing about the article is that all this EU regulatory control over corporations is in fact deeply capitalistic and the very reason for its existence, and in the corporations interest. Which is not what most EU citizens would consider being on the left of the political spectrum. The idea is: we need regulation to shape the market where businesses can compete freely to the…

Now you are twisting words :) Capitalism is like a cancer, it will grow endlessly and will become feudalism. Socialism is the government applying rules to capitalism, so it doesn't get out of control. US policy of neo-liberalism is growing in Europe too, which is giving problems.

I don't think so. Here are my simplified definition of words, I don't think they are very controversial or meaningless:

Capitalism is ownership of capital by corporations who are protected by the state.

Neo-liberalism is a version of capitalism that thinks the state sucks and must stick with the minimal protection that enables private ownership (vs banditry).

Communism is ownership of capital by the state and the abolishment of private ownership.

Socialism is more fluid, but the core is redistribution of wealth to effect just outcomes.

All of the above involve the government applying rules so 'something' doesn't get out of control, whether its evil bureaucrats or evil corporations. All of these can be done democratically (usually in varying degrees) and with the rule of law, or end up in a form of oligarchy or lawlessness.

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