The EU economy beats the U.S.'s—if you look at the right data

A blurred image of a person whose face is not visible, lugging a blue cabin suitcase. (Credit: Andreas Arnold—picture alliance/Getty Images)

Good morning, and Happy New Year! 

Could 2024 be the year in which the European economy finds its footing again? Perhaps. But an economist at one Brussels-based think tank argues there was never a need for doom and gloom in the first place. 

Despite headlines and gut feelings to the contrary, “the EU improved compared to the U.S.,” in the past decade on relevant GDP indicators, Zsolt Darvas, a senior fellow at Bruegel, told me on the first workday of 2024. If you thought that wasn't the case, you were likely looking at the wrong data, he says.