Ep. 78: Alex Krainer - "Europe: Where Are You Heading?"

My guest today is Alex Krainer, a geo-political analyst, commodity trading expert and founder of I-System Trend Following. This livestream was originally recorded on Substack on May 7th, 2025, where we discussed:

Economic: Europe faces stagnating growth, high debt levels, and a challenging transition toward green energy. Deindustrialization risks, driven by high energy prices and overregulation, are pushing production out of the continent.

Military & Security: Increased dependence on NATO and the U.S. persists despite growing calls for “strategic autonomy.” Military capabilities remain fragmented, and the war in Ukraine has exposed logistical and coordination weaknesses. Internal threats from radicalization, migration pressures, and social unrest are rising.

Financial: Advancing towards greater financial centralization—digital euro projects, ECB control expansion, and tighter regulation under MiCA—all hint at diminishing national fiscal independence.

Geopolitical: Externally, instability in neighboring regions (Eastern Europe, Middle East, North Africa) fuels geopolitical vulnerabilities.

Governance: The EU is becoming increasingly technocratic, with power consolidating in Brussels. Democratic legitimacy is under strain as national sovereignty clashes with top-down policymaking, especially on digital, climate, and fiscal issues.

Alex mentioned we’re heading towards a multi-polar integration reality, and reminded us all the importance of speaking out bravely, resisting and pushing back like your kids' lives are dependent on it. On the bright side, we stressed the importance of seizing the opportunities for multi-polar trade, low digital barriers of entry, developed communication protocols, decentralized solutions, permission-less solutions like Bitcoin etc., to liberate ourselves, promote self-sovereignty and a sense of agency.

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-- LINKS –

Alex’s Twitter: https://x.com/NakedHedgie  Alex’s Substack: https://alexkrainer.substack.com/ 

Alex’s Website: https://isystem-tf.com/ 

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