European Union: Cry of Alarm on the Economy

Former president of the investment bank Goldman Sachs for Europe (2002-2005), then governor of the Bank of Italy (2006-2011), and finally president of the European Central Bank (BCI) (2011-2019), Mr. Draghi was for more than a year President of the Council of Ministers of Italy (2021-2022).

In the document submitted to the European Commission, the former president of the BCI is particularly pessimistic about the future of the European Union, which is “today facing an existential challenge,” notes Le Monde. And “if it does not change, it will be condemned to a slow death,” he says.

This pessimism is rooted in the observation of the EU's loss of competitiveness compared to the United States and the inexorable breakthrough of China, which is eating away at the gap that still exists between its economy and those of the 27 member states. The former President of the Italian Council of Ministers admitted to having “nightmares” about this subject, again according to Le Monde.

It is not surprising that, alongside massive investments, one of the means proposed by the technician is to “strengthen governance” in Europe - the title of the sixth chapter of his report - in order to accelerate the implementation of laws voted by the European Parliament. There are undoubtedly comments to be made on this chapter, but that is not the purpose of this article.

Polybius, in his Histories, explains how Greece was easily defeated by the depopulation that it maintained for fear of overpopulation.

“The people of this country have given in to vanity and the love of material goods; they have acquired a taste for the easy life and they no longer want to marry or, when they do, they refuse to keep the children who are born to them or at most raise only one or two, in order to be able to spoil them during their youth and then leave them a large fortune.”

“It is not necessary to question the gods to know how we can deliver ourselves from this scourge. The first person who comes along will tell us that it depends above all on us and that we only have to nourish other ambitions.”

Thus Sparta, a city which could, according to Aristotle, “provide 1,500 horsemen and 30,000 hoplites [soldiers]” in 480 BC, had, in 330 BC - 150 years later – “only a thousand fighters. Also the State could not withstand a single setback [the defeat of Leuctra in 371 BC] and it was the shortage of men that killed it.” (Politics)

Mario Draghi explains that “Europe needs faster productivity growth to maintain sustainable growth rates in the face of unfavorable demographics. After the Second World War, the EU experienced strong growth driven by both productivity growth and population growth.”

“However, both drivers of growth are now slowing down.… Europe is entering the first period in modern history in which GDP growth will not be supported by a net increase in the labor force.”

The economist continues: “By 2040, the EU’s labor force is expected to decline by two million workers per year, while the ratio of workers to pensioners is expected to decline from around 3:1 to 2:1. On this trajectory, growth in Europe will stop.” He also points out that “positive net migration does not compensate for the EU’s demographic decline.”

Polybius irresistibly signals to us: “If someone were to ask the gods what should be said or done to make us more numerous... would this approach not seem absurd, since the cause of the evil is obvious and it is up to us to remedy it?”

And further: “The sources of life having dried up, the State found itself without strength and disarmed.” Among the means presented by the economist to change the situation and revive the EU there is no mention of reviving the birth rate: the solutions are technical, financial, and economic, but men are absent.

The future of the EU, under these conditions, has already been characterized by Aristotle: “It is the shortage of men that has killed it.” And we must add: the rejection of the religion founded by Jesus Christ; the rejection of the Church; and the rejection of the laws laid down by the One who founded the true Europe, Christendom.

The anti-Christian laws are completing their deadly action, and the Europe that rejected Christ is preparing to die, without any surprise for those who know that only Christ the King can save the world.