Cimmerianbloke
Elite member
Forget about Schumann, Monet, De Gasperi, Adenauer and Spaak, the original founding fathers of post WW2 Europe. Chances are that if you are between 15 and 40, you've been living under the influence of O'Leary (Ryanair), Kamprad (IKEA) and the Albrecht brothers (ALDI), the trinity of European businessmen that really revolutioned and reshaped our way of living and consuming. As far as I can analyse, IKEA is to Europe what Coca-Cola is to the US: a symbol of a certain way of life.
That also reflects the shift of power from the political world to the finance and business world we have been experiencing since the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Michael O'Leary lobbied aggressively to bring the national carriers monopoly to an end and therefore often attacked the Brussels and the Irish government's stance on competition. However, Europe still needs (especially in these troubled times...) her Steve Jobs and Bill Gates...
That also reflects the shift of power from the political world to the finance and business world we have been experiencing since the Fall of the Berlin Wall. Michael O'Leary lobbied aggressively to bring the national carriers monopoly to an end and therefore often attacked the Brussels and the Irish government's stance on competition. However, Europe still needs (especially in these troubled times...) her Steve Jobs and Bill Gates...