Economist Edin Mujagić warned the EU was ‘rotting’ after Ursula von der Leyen’s ‘State of the Union’. ‘Problems arise if you implement policies that cause EU member states to rot’, says economist on the Macro podcast with Boot and Mujagi.

Listen to the entire podcast with Edin Mujagi here

Mujagić has a few sweet words left for the European Commission President’s speech. ‘You can compare it to someone telling you what beautiful windows will be in his house and a pool in the garden, while the foundation under the house is as rotten as it can be.’

And economists have an idea of ​​what’s causing the rot: ‘High inflation and high debt. We know that both slowed economic growth, causing tensions in Europe. You can already see it between Northern and Southern Europe. The north wants something done about the debt, and the south thinks the north doesn’t want to help them,” Mujagić explained.

‘Inflation is only discussed once’

Economists also note that it slows EU integration, making tackling inflation even more difficult. ‘You have to raise interest rates, but that doesn’t work if you also have high debt.’ Therefore, Mujagić lacks urgency in von der Leyen’s speech. ‘The big problem of households today is purchasing power. Inflation is too high. When I saw the speech, which contained 5,821 words, the word inflation was mentioned only once. And even in the context of a struggling household.’

It is incomprehensible to economists that the current situation is not named. “Plan ahead, okay. But more attention should be paid here and now. If I look at what’s been said there, the EU’s policy plans are just going to make inflation higher than we’ve been used to in the last ten to fifteen years.’