The chart above shows the annualized nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate when priced in US dollars in each EU and US region over the past five years as of the fourth quarter of 2018 and the growth over the past ten years.  All negative growth rates in the EU are attributed to currency rate fluctuations.

The chart above shows the annualized nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in each EU region over the past five years as of the fourth quarter of 2018 and the growth rate over the past ten years.  The Northern EU is the only region whose growth rate was smaller over the past five years than it was over the past ten years.

The chart above shows the annualized nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate when the GDP is priced in US dollars in each EU and US state over the past five years as of the fourth quarter of 2018 and the growth rate over the past ten years.  Only EU states saw a contraction both over the past five and ten years.

The chart above shows the annualized nominal gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate in each EU state over the past five years as of the fourth quarter of 2018 and the growth rate over the past ten years.  Greece is the only state to experience negative growth over either period.

The chart above shows the per capita annualized nominal gross domestic product (GDP) in each EU and US region as of the fourth quarter of 2018 in US dollars, the change from five years ago, and the per capita GDP ten years prior.  US regions have had a very good past five years.

The chart above shows the per capita annualized nominal gross domestic product (GDP) in each EU region as of the fourth quarter of 2018 in euros, the change from five years ago, and the per capita GDP ten years prior.  Every single region's economy grew both over the past five and past ten years.

The chart above shows the per capita annualized nominal gross domestic product (GDP) in each EU and US state as of the fourth quarter of 2018 in dollars, the change from five years ago, and the GDP ten years prior.  Luxembourg is in a class all by itself.

The chart above shows the per capita annualized nominal gross domestic product (GDP) in each EU state as of the fourth quarter of 2018 in euros, the change from five years ago, and the per capita GDP ten years prior.  Luxembourg and Ireland had exceptional growth over the past five years.

Recently, the European Union (EU) held an election to decide the representatives in the EU Parliament, the EU's equivalent to the House of Representatives in the US.  After the election, a Commission President is selected based on the results and on input from another EU body (European Council) which consists of the heads of state of the 28 EU states.  In this last election held on May 26, no party held a majority but the party with a plurality can attempt to form a coalition with other parties large enough to gain a majority.  The results were so scattered however, that the three largest parties needed to form a coalition to gain a majority.  Ultimately, they could not agree on a candidate to head the Commission and through backroom dealings, the European Council selected a candidate outside of the parties' leadership, and the Parliament voted her in this week.  How would the election look if the EU had an electoral college?  We take a look at the process below.  The map above shows how many electors each party would get based on this election's results.  Each state is given the number of representatives it has in the Parliament and one additional elector for each representative in the European Council and one for the Council of the European Union (so the number of parliamentarians plus two).  These two bodies are not exact equivalents of our Senate, but in order to simplify the highly bureaucratic institutions of the EU, it will do for now.  Another post looks at how the previous US presidential race would look with a parliamentary system.

The chart above shows the unemployment rate in each EU and US region as of May 2019 (unless otherwise noted - see caveats below), the change from the previous month, and the rate one year prior.  US regions continue to have considerably lower unemployment rates than EU regions with the Eastern EU being the only EU region that tops a US region.