Europe faces a painful adjustment to higher defence spending
The choices: taxes, cuts elsewhere, more borrowing
With vladimir putin issuing threats and Donald Trump musing about withdrawing support, everyone agrees that Europe needs to spend more on its armed forces. What is less widely recognised is how wrenching the shift will be for a continent that has grown used to outsourcing its defence to America. Over the past three decades, politicians have enthusiastically spent the peace dividend on everything bar pilots, sailors and soldiers (see chart).
This article appeared in the Finance & economics section of the print edition under the headline “A shadow falls”
Finance & economics February 24th 2024
- Russia outsmarts Western sanctions—and China is paying attention
- Europe faces a painful adjustment to higher defence spending
- Should you put all your savings into stocks?
- As the Nikkei 225 hits record highs, Japan’s young start investing
- Gucci, Prada and Tiffany’s bet big on property
- Trump wants to whack Chinese firms. How badly could he hurt them?
Discover more
How China will strike back at Trump
Xi Jinping has set out his tariff red lines. What if America crosses them?
Russia’s plunging currency spells trouble for its war effort
Supplies from China are about to become more expensive
The great-man theory of Wall Street
Why finance is still dominated by bold individuals
Hong Kong’s property slump may be terminal
Demographics and geopolitics will make a recovery harder
Why everyone wants to lend to weak companies
An unanticipated side-effect of Donald Trump’s election victory
American veterans now receive absurdly generous benefits
An enormous rise in disability payments may complicate debt-reduction efforts