Martin Varsavsky @martinvars Europe is committing economic suicide, and the numbers prove it. From 1995-2008, the EU and US grew at similar rates (~2.5% annually). Then 2008 happened: America chose deregulation and fracking, Europe chose austerity and regulatory explosion. The result? Americans are now 70% richer than Europeans ($80k vs $47k GDP per capita), and the gap widens every year. If Europe had simply matched US growth rates since 2008, our economy would be €24 trillion instead of €18 trillion: that’s €6 trillion stolen by the bureaucratic class through regulation. But here’s what’s radical: Argentina just proved the solution works. Milei took a bankrupt country with 25% monthly inflation, deregulated 3,000+ rules by executive decree, cut government spending 30%, and within 12 months: inflation down to 2.4%/month, budget surplus achieved for the first time in 16 years, and GDP growth returning at 5-7% forecast. If a broke country can do that in one year, a rich continent can do more in two. The path forward is clear: take a chainsaw to regulations in 11 sectors (energy, biotech, housing, fintech, health, robotics, mining, labor, food, space, and everything else), and Europe unlocks €4-5 trillion in additional annual GDP by 2035. That means nuclear approvals in 3 years not 15, legal fracking where geology permits, automatic housing permits in 6 months, one EU securities regulator instead of 27, cross-border telemedicine, legal autonomous vehicles, 2-year mining permits not 15, mutual recognition of professional licenses, CRISPR agriculture approved, and private spaceports licensed fast. The bureaucrats, incumbent corporations, and “expert” consultants will fight this because they profit from your poverty—but the window is open now. Energy crisis taught us dependence kills, US-China decoupling forces strategic autonomy (which requires deregulation), and populist pressure is breaking the old political order. Investors: reallocate capital to deregulation plays now. Founders: build despite the rules, move to jurisdictions that allow experimentation. Everyone: this is binary—either shock therapy back to 2.5% growth and prosperity, or continued 0.5% stagnation into irrelevance. There is no middle path. ¡AFUERA!