Why Can’t Europeans Get Along?

Forging strong trade connections enriched the European economy, but administrative measures alone did not ensure economic or political integration, cautions management professor Pankaj Ghemawat in an essay for Fortune. While short-term intervention is needed, he argues, Europe must also strive for cultural and political cohesion and build greater trust among 27 nations. He contrasts the EU with the US, and urges Europe to increase trust by taking steps to increase coordination in its transport, communications, and energy infrastructures; ease cross-border discrepancies in productivity and income; and boost labor migration. Such moves would also reduce costs. Investment in higher education and regional economic networks, along with exchange programs in workplaces and schools, would also strengthen connections, understanding and trust. – YaleGlobal