Adam Tooze

So if that's what America wants to take over, this is a substantial, I mean, not huge by American standards, but nevertheless, this is a net negative.

in its current form.

And what the Europeans are going to do is their usual European thing.

They'll do a regional policy and they'll find a few billions to transform this.

And Ivan in Bulgaria knows the story only too well of how mixed the results of those kinds of programs can be.

They can be very real, but it depends critically on the politics in the place where the money is applied.

I mean, I'd love to think that.

I just really need to check my biases on this.

One shouldn't underestimate the capacity of the Europeans to fail.

It's spectacular.

Think Democrats.

We know it.

Think Schumer.

Think Democratic leadership.

Every bit as bad as that.

Plus more division.

It's not a done deal, but I love the basic logic.

One of the things that's really shocked me is, as a kind of action-reaction kind of logic, is the promotion of Ursula von der Leyen.

In the first term, Ivan's totally right.

They had no idea who she was.