Summary
Stephen Moore, a senior economic adviser to US president-elect Donald Trump, urged the UK to adopt the US “free enterprise” model over Europe’s “more socialist” system, suggesting it would enhance the Trump administration’s “willingness” to pursue a UK-US trade deal.
Moore also defended US agricultural practices and Trump’s proposed 10% blanket import tariff, noting possible exemptions for allies like the UK.
UK leaders, including Keir Starmer, face pressure to balance trade ties with both the EU and US, with figures like Peter Mandelson advocating dual trade agreements amid Brexit challenges.
TIL I live in socialist EU.
The Union shall establish an internal market. It shall work for the sustainable development of Europe based on balanced economic growth and price stability, a highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social progress, and a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment. It shall promote scientific and technological advance.
Emphasis mine. In a nutshell a social market economy is a Realpolitik compromise between capitalism and market socialism, where private ownership of the means of production is tolerated but said ownership doesn’t entail complete power over it, through e.g. co-determination laws.
To make this more concrete, and maybe blow some Yank’s mind: Volkswagen’s employees elect 50% - 1 seats on the board. Together with shares held by Lower Saxony (usually run by a socdem government) they run the place, no matter how many shares the Porsche/Piëch clan and the Saudis have. It’s why VW itself worked towards unionising its own plant in Chattanooga, to the bewilderment of many. Sadly can’t unionise the plants in China the CCP hates it when workers have a say.
If you consider that European conservative parties are on the same political spectrum range as the US Democrats, and the US Republicans are basically the European neo-Nazis, this makes Americans see normal European social-Democratic parties as “communists”.
The American political spectrum has shifted to the right in ways that prepared the ground for Trumps coming Machtergreifung.
