“You will either write algorithms or you will be replaced by algorithms”

A new and important report by World Bank on the EU countries;

The report adds, according to highlights released to press on Wednesday, that economic pessimism is rational in these areas and should be taken “very seriously” by EU institutions.

It also warns that that pessimism can be easily exploited by populist politicians.

“The machine will stall unless steps are taken to ensure people benefit equally”, Kristalina Georgieva, the World Bank chief executive and a former EU commissioner, said in a statement ahead of the publication.

Arup Banerji, who is in charge of the EU countries department at the World Bank, said: “The EU is growing, but Europeans are not growing united”.

Georgieva added, in an interview with the Financial Times newspaper: “If left unattended, the risk is right there that people feel disenfranchised, disillusioned, and left behind.”

“There will be fertile ground for populism — not necessarily for [politicians] who come up with solutions, but people who come up with the right slogan,” she added.

“The convergence machine of the EU is still working — but it’s not working for everyone and there are signs of growing divides,” she said.

For Discussion: Comment on the issues raised by Marcin Piatkowski, author of Europe’s Growth Champion: Insights from the Economic Rise of Poland, on the report.

— what does it mean exactly? What would do the benchmarking do? How do you embrace the unknown differently than before?

— “Priority to education, embracing technological change, and improving the doing business environment”. Sure, agree. But has it not been the priority before already?

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Boxes in the Report