Here’s a glimpse of what the map says. It took one century, from 1820 to 1913, for the centre of gravity (as measured by “weighing” locations’ GDP) to move from Asia to Europe. After the second world war, that point moved across the Atlantic to the United States. In the 1960s, 70s, 80s and 90s, it remained in the western part of the northern hemisphere. Then a dizzying acceleration occurred. In just one decade, from 2000 to 2010, the centre swept back to Asia, reversing almost all the trends of the previous 2,000 years. [...]
Europe matters, but it often seems to matter less than we would like. We didn’t even need Donald Trump for us to realise that the old continent had become less of an American focus than for previous generations. I remember an Obama administration official telling me in 2012 about how “tedious” Europe felt (this was in the middle of the euro crisis), whereas Asia was “exciting”.
It all has a psychological impact. Studies show that people in Asia’s emerging economies tend to be far more optimistic (58%) than Europeans (24%). The new middle classes in Asia are confident their children will be better off financially: for them, the future shines brightly. Europeans, on the other hand, have a hard time feeling upbeat. [...]
Macron had a go at boosting morale this week when he delivered a forceful speech on Europe and democracy in Athens. Europe’s past failures, he said, had “corroded the confidence” of its peoples. He called for a rediscovery of the continent’s rich culture as a way of drawing nations closer, and he plans to launch a grassroots consultative process in 2018, so citizens can have a better say on the continent’s future.
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