Try not to be dense. The long-term financial problems in Europe are a direct result of the fact that they not only believe in The Free Lunch, but they have actually made it the foundation of their governmental policies. Why isn't their currency attractive? Where is the debt coming from?

The ideal of their philosophy, I suppose, would be for nobody to have to work and for everything to be free. Wouldn't that be swell?

The Great Welfare States in Europe (and elsewhere) are hitting the economic wall in ways that any fool with the slightest knowledge of economics and market principles could have predicted. In some ways its amazing it's gone on this long.

There are a lot of people who are firmly of the belief that the main function of a business or corporation is to pay wages and benefits to employees, and that everything else comes a distant second, including actually doing something productive. This is not the way to build an economy.

The reason for the cautionary article is that there are plenty of people in the United States who believe that we should follow in their footsteps, straight over the same cliff. Those advocating brand-new entitlements fall into this category, and right now that even includes Bush.

As for Japanese building cars here, fine. I don't think it's because Americans work harder or longer hours than Japanese do. If you want something to worry about, it's those nations struggling to join the First World. Their people work a lot harder and a lot cheaper than Americans, never mind Europeans.