Europe vs USA and China. How to reverse decline in the age of artificial intelligence

Preface by J.C. Daz.

Finding authors with an academic and strongly entrepreneurial background such as Andrs Pedreo and Luis Moreno is not easy. Because of this strangeness, this book is a real breath of fresh air; a new approach to the consequences of the digital delay in Europe, with a critical tone from those who suffer the absence of impulse to digital companies and the exhaustion imposed by academic research; an essential vision of the weakness of the European Union in the face of the US and China, which are strengthening their positions (especially the latter) at the dawn of the artificial intelligence (AI)-driven industrial revolution.

The European Union (EU) is now a victim of its policies and doubts about leaving its comfort zone and transforming its traditional production system. However, economists for decades have paid little attention to regulatory issues, almost ignoring the impact of their measures on a country's growth or the opportunity costs they can bring to their businesses. The coronavirus crisis has once again reflected this European backwardness, as well as the need for an in-depth analysis of its consequences and policies to boost economic development. Asia, already consolidated as a leader in the digital economy, has emerged successfully from this new global crisis, and by reading this book, you will understand why.

If there were something special about this work, it would be that its authors, Andrs and Luis, have dared to draw a roadmap beyond criticism as recommendations for closing the digital divide. In a solid way, they explain why the honing of talent, the creation of digital ecosystems, a regulation that weighs its effects on the development of cutting-edge technologies, and an intelligent administration are topics that should become a "state business" for a European Union that is rapidly approaching its economic decline. Europe, if it does not promote strategies to take advantage of cutting-edge technologies, will be relegated to a secondary role in a market that will generate tens of billions of euros.

The change we face will generate fears that will have to be managed, and potential victims that must be protected and accompanied by social policies to minimize the negative externalities of technological transformation. If Europe does not start the path of change towards an eminently digital economy, it will inevitably be overwhelmed by "creative destruction". For all these reasons, after reading this book, it will be more apparent than ever that we are in that state that in classical Greece they called Kairos, the right time to do something crucial. In this book you will find the tools to start the revolution.
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Andrs Pedreo Muoz is former chancellor of the University of Alicante, professor of applied economics and entrepreneur.
Luis Moreno Izquierdo is full professor and director of the Research Group on Economics of...