Stan Veuger on Europe Today: Politics, Economics, and the Future of the EU

What is the political and economic situation in Europe today? How should we think about contentious issues like stresses in the European Union, Brexit, the migration crisis, and the rise of populist parties of the Left and the Right? In this Conversation, AEI economist Stan Veuger shares an incisive and—against the conventional wisdom—rather encouraging account of Europe today.In support of this assessment, Veuger presents a qualified defense of the project of European integration, noting that in the last decades European countries have successfully warded off violent conflict and have enjoyed greater economic prosperity (despite serious problems with the Euro currency). Veuger highlights the imperfect character of the Euro, but argues that there does not seem to be a plausible alternative to it, today. In contrast to his confidence about the general prospects and benefits of the EU common market, Veuger shares specific concerns about national defense, the migration crisis, Brexit, and the rise of populist parties. However he says he is less worried [about the future of Europe] now than people rightly were five years ago.