Europe: the new frontier?
In a recent column in the New York Times (link below), Paul Krugman suggested that it may be ‘Old Europe’ rather than India or China that we should look to in order to see at least one part of the future. His point was that Europe shows how wealthy, advanced industrial countries can have high standards of living even with very high energy prices. He contrasts the design of European cities (dense) with American (spread-out) and auto usage (smaller cars and more public transport versus larger vehicles and middle class disregard for mass transit.) What are you noticing about these kinds of patterns this summer? How does your life in Europe differ, if it does, from life in the US? Is there anything else you’ve been struck by about the way Europeans use energy or feel towards environmental issues? We’d love to hear your comments.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/19/opinion/19krugman.html?scp=1&sq=krugman+old+europe+berlin&st=nyt