PhillyDeals: EU envoy brings a wider perspective here

J

ohn Bruton

, the

European Union's

ambassador to the United States, stopped by Philadelphia to talk to the

World Affairs Council

yesterday, part of Europe's public relations campaign as it wrestles with the U.S. on economic and military issues.

Bruton asked about an old friend, former U.S. Rep. Curt Weldon (R., Pa.), who was voted out of office two elections back after the FBI reportedly investigated favors he did for clients of his daughter's lobbying firm. "Did anything ever come of that?" Bruton asked me.

As with so many Washington investigations, no one has been charged. That has allowed Weldon supporters to place him alongside former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens (R., Alaska) among alleged victims of shadowy forces targeting senior Republicans who influenced defense appropriations.

Bruton, a former prime minister of Ireland, said the congressman "was an original. He had great knowledge of Russia and other countries. And he gave me a great introduction into American political life."

"Europe is handling the crisis very differently from the U.S.," Bruton said, when asked about the economic crisis on a ride from the airport. "It's not borrowing or spending so much."

Partly that's because the influential Germans don't like government borrowing, and fear inflation. Also, Bruton said: "We're trying to create a European currency on a scale that would gain extraconfidence. One has to be extra prudent in the early years of establishing something like this."

If the United States comes out of this mess deeply in debt, isn't the euro likely to replace it as the world's dominant currency?

"In the long run that could be good for the U.S.," Bruton told me. "I've spoken to senior people in the Federal Reserve who hope the euro would emerge as an alternative. It would force the U.S. to use greater fiscal discipline" if global investors stopped buying piles of U.S. debt, due to chronic U.S. budget and trade deficits.

But Bruton doesn't expect it'll happen like that. Europe's aging populations will have a tough time paying its high pensions and benefits, and the expense will erode the euro's value. The United States, with its younger population and immigrant workers, should have an easier time paying its bills.

"It's more likely that in the new world economy we'll see in 10 years' time, a bigger slice of the action will be being taken by Brazil, China, and India," instead of Europe, Bruton said.

I asked if it's true that Europeans like Americans better since we elected President Obama. "That's true among the people," Bruton said. But among diplomats, "over the last four years, Bush was very open to working with the European Union. He was exceptionally well-briefed and interested in what was being discussed. Those who actually worked with him would be very happy on most issues."

Still, "President Obama coming in has taken positions we would regard as improvements in regards to Israel and Palestine, in regard to the possibility of dialogue with Iran, in regard to Cuba, and in regard to accepting, as [Secretary of State] Hillary Clinton did [on her recent Mexico trip], that Americans and Europeans consuming illegal drugs are contributing to the problems encountered in countries like Mexico," Bruton said.

"Willingness to accept responsibility by this administration is good," he said. "Those were things that didn't happen under Bush."

Philadelphia's European-American chambers of commerce co-sponsored Bruton with the World Affairs Council.

Liberty Property Trust

of Philadelphia says it has sold five buildings totaling about 150,000 square feet in the

Lehigh Valley Corporate Center

in Bethlehem to an affiliate of

Maguire & Partners

, Bala Cynwyd, for $19 million.

Robert Fahey

and

Michael Hines

of

CB Richard Ellis Group Inc.

brokered the deal.

Veteran real estate investor Daniel Maguire said private investors were buying properties while publicly traded real estate investment trusts like Liberty sell them to raise cash.