I live in Germany, which by some accounts, is the third largest economy, and we have literally no answer for what is next, economically. Neither in the public nor private sectors. Nobody is investing, nobody is building new things, nobody even knows what to do next. But the story is the same throughout Europe as far as I can see. All industries hope to keep selling the same old shit. But the 3rd world is catching up. They can manufacture goods that are just as good, and for much cheaper. Heck, some can even do it cleaner too, since they have access to cleaner energy sources. But we also have no real 21st century income streams.
It looks to me as though, only the US and China are undertaking really innovative projects.
Is my reading of the situation flawed? I would love to have your input.
Whenever I think about these things, I just think of the UK and how long they’ve been around. Wars, plagues, economic meltdowns, etc. They may not be the global power anymore, but on the whole, things seem to be working out fairly well for them. For the rest of developed countries, I don’t worry much either.
The only countries I do actually worry about are China and russia, since both have lost generations of people either to capital flight, or self-imposed policies that have erased generations of young people and women. There’s no way to undo that generational damage, even if you started importing immigrants 24/7 to get married and all that. Generally, big upsets like that result in massive wars/starvation/mass purges/etc.
That said, if I were Germany, I’d be working to get off LNG as soon as possible. I’d be looking at advanced nuclear and securing non-russian nuclear fuels in case climate change causes the ocean currents to shift and make things hotter/cooler around the north Atlantic and North Sea. Nothing good can come from russian LNG at this point. Investing in R&D in renewables, scientific advancements, and clean energy is probably where I’d be retrenching my economy.