As the U.S. economy lumbers through a slow recovery, Americans can take comfort that they are not Europeans. Fear in Europe that Americans will outcompete and draw investment away is palpable. EU leaders from 27 countries met in Brussels this week to discuss energy policy, and the chart that had everyone buzzing had three simple jagged lines. It showed EU electricity prices since 2005 had skyrocketed, while Japan’s climbed moderately, and prices in the U.S. plunged sharply. “Stuck in the doldrums, the European economy has lost nearly all momentum, with growth hard to come by and rising energy costs a real concern,” Agence France Presse reported this week.
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