Europe pays for US growth

Paris - The victor in the US presidential elections will inherit a much-vaunted powerhouse economy that has been largely financed…

Paris - The victor in the US presidential elections will inherit a much-vaunted powerhouse economy that has been largely financed by European companies, analysts say.

Both Mr Gore and Mr Bush take US prosperity, which has lasted 10 years and promises a budget windfall for the winner, as an accepted fact.

But the growth has much to do with European investors, lured by the big profits on offer. The French company Vivendi is taking control of Universal Music and Universal studios by taking over Canada's Seagram, Deutsche Telekom is merging with VoiceStream, Britain's Vodafone bought AirTouch, Daimler merged with Chrysler and Credit Suisse took control of Donaldson Lufkin Jenrette. In a report in October, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said that in 1999 European-based companies invested $510 billion (€594 billion) abroad, two-thirds of the world total of direct investments for that year.