Economists explain why they expect Europe to 'bounce back more sharply' than the U.S.

European Union flag.
(Image credit: Pier Marco Tacca/Getty Images)

Jari Stehn, chief European economist at Goldman Sachs, told Bloomberg "it's pretty rare that the euro area would outgrow the U.S. over a horizon of one to two years," yet that's exactly what Stehn and other economists anticipate will happen as both economies try to emerge from the coronavirus pandemic.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. predicts the euro area's economy to shrink more than the U.S.'s this year — 6.4 percent to 5.1 percent, respectively — but, subsequently, the bank anticipates a 6.2 percent rebound for the Euro area, which is more than double the 2.8 percent growth expected for the U.S. That's because the euro area has "broken the link," meaning that mobility numbers are increasing, but the virus has not been resurgent. The success is largely the result of initially aggressive lockdowns followed by good contact tracing programs, mask-wearing, and continued social distancing measures as things open up, Bloomberg reports.

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Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.