Economy & Business

Britain’s Losing the Global Race

By Julian Lindley-French

British Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) George Osborne said that Britain must win “the global race,” which is probably a political metaphor for reducing deficit spending and increasing productivity. At the crux of his efforts to claw back a further £11.5bn of savings have been further cuts to the British armed forces. This coming […]

C-Castration

By Julian Lindley-French

Winston Churchill once famously said, “We can always count on the Americans to do the right thing, but only after they have exhausted all the other possibilities”.  Sadly, having just arrived in Washington I am not so sure. Dear old Johnny Yank seems to have invented an entirely new form of non-government called ’C-Castration’, or something such.  Now, […]

A New Declaration of Interdependence

By Frederick Kempe and Aart De Geus

On July 4, 1962, U.S. president John F. Kennedy declared “that the United States will be ready for a Declaration of Interdependence, that we will be prepared to discuss with a united Europe the ways and means of forming a concrete Atlantic partnership, a mutually beneficial partnership between the new union now emerging in Europe […]

When It Comes to Trade, Transatlantic Values Have Their Limits

By Sabine Muscat

Whenever American and European politicians and members of their business communities talk about their plans for a Transatlantic Trade and Investment Agreement (TTIP), they wax lyrical about an economic zone consisting of Western democracies. The message to their citizens sounds compelling: “We share the same values, and we will now set standards for the rest […]

The G8 Needs a Standing Agenda: Competitiveness

By Nicholas Dungan

The British Prime Minister, David Cameron, is having a bit of a romp. Last year, the United Kingdom hosted the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics, and celebrated Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee. This year, Britain holds the rotating presidency of the G8, the high point of which is the heads of government meeting at Loch Erne in […]

Deepening Transatlantic Trade: Historic Opportunity or a Failure to Launch?

By Garrett Workman

As President Obama heads to Europe for the G8 summit in Northern Ireland and a state visit to Berlin, the official launch of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations figures prominently on the agenda. Meanwhile, in Brussels, European Union trade ministers are working feverishly to assuage the fears of certain member-states and secure […]

The Economic and Political Decline of France

By Mathieu von Rohr, Spiegel

Advancing Transatlantic Trade and Investment: Roundtable with the American Chambers of Commerce in Europe

By Jason Harmala

On June 4th, the Atlantic Council’s Global Business and Economics Program hosted an off-the-record roundtable discussion involving the leaders of the American Chambers of Commerce from 27 European countries and the European Union, including Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, and the Netherlands.Participants met to explore areas of cooperation between the Atlantic Council and the American Chambers […]