3 ms·

How long term should the view be? In Italy, political and monetary union hasn't led to anything approaching parity between North and South after 150 years. And

by abell 10y ago

How long term should the view be? In Italy, political and monetary union hasn't led to anything approaching parity between North and South after 150 years. And as far as I understand, the outcome of German reunification is still quite disappointing for East Germans after 25 years.

davedx 10y ago
Really? Can you provide a link for that?
- abell 10y ago
  For the German reunification, I read a quite interesting essay by Vladimiro Giacché: "Anschluss. L'annessione. L'unificazione della Germania e il futuro dell'Europa" (also available in German). A few potentially interesting links after a quick googling: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/02/german-reunification-25-years-on-how-different-are-east-and-west-really https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/02/german-reunifi... http://fortune.com/2014/11/09/germany-east-west-economy/ http://fortune.com/2014/11/09/germany-east-west-economy/ http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/10/daily-chart-comparing-eastern-and-western-germany http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/10/daily-c... And for Italy: http://www.citymetric.com/business/italys-north-south-divide-one-chart-361 http://www.citymetric.com/business/italys-north-south-divide...
madaxe_again 10y ago
As long as infrastructure investment fails to materialise or lands in corrupt hands, then no, you will not make progress. EU projects tend to go better than domestic ones due to the increased accountability and oversight they demand. I drove across Europe in the late 90's and it took weeks, navigating awful roads and overtaking horse carts. Now, there are motorways, a very visible physical embodiment of investment done well. Hell, you can drive to China from the UK in four days now. It's nothing to sniff at.
- zigzigzag 10y ago
  EU funding is notoriously wasteful hence the phenomenon of "ghost airports" and other stuff: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-airports-specialreport-idUSKBN0JS06K20141214 http://www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-airports-specialrep... I can believe the EU is slightly more competent than, say, Greece. I can believe it's not exactly corrupt. But that doesn't mean it's progress.

by abell 10y ago

davedx 10y ago

Really? Can you provide a link for that?

abell 10y ago
For the German reunification, I read a quite interesting essay by Vladimiro Giacché: "Anschluss. L'annessione. L'unificazione della Germania e il futuro dell'Europa" (also available in German). A few potentially interesting links after a quick googling: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/02/german-reunification-25-years-on-how-different-are-east-and-west-really https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/02/german-reunifi... http://fortune.com/2014/11/09/germany-east-west-economy/ http://fortune.com/2014/11/09/germany-east-west-economy/ http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/10/daily-chart-comparing-eastern-and-western-germany http://www.economist.com/blogs/graphicdetail/2015/10/daily-c... And for Italy: http://www.citymetric.com/business/italys-north-south-divide-one-chart-361 http://www.citymetric.com/business/italys-north-south-divide...

madaxe_again 10y ago

As long as infrastructure investment fails to materialise or lands in corrupt hands, then no, you will not make progress. EU projects tend to go better than domestic ones due to the increased accountability and oversight they demand. I drove across Europe in the late 90's and it took weeks, navigating awful roads and overtaking horse carts. Now, there are motorways, a very visible physical embodiment of investment done well. Hell, you can drive to China from the UK in four days now. It's nothing to sniff at.

zigzigzag 10y ago
EU funding is notoriously wasteful hence the phenomenon of "ghost airports" and other stuff: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-airports-specialreport-idUSKBN0JS06K20141214 http://www.reuters.com/article/us-poland-airports-specialrep... I can believe the EU is slightly more competent than, say, Greece. I can believe it's not exactly corrupt. But that doesn't mean it's progress.