Why Europe is in better economic shape

Europe...has high domestic savings rates and balanced trade accounts with the rest of the world. Europe, unlike the United States, is not increasingly in hock to China.

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A senior French banking official told me, "If a banker promoted these subprime mortgages here, he would go to jail."

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In a recent interview, Germany's Gunter Verheugen, vice president of the European Commission, told me, "We need a strong and competitive industrial base in order to have a strong service economy. Don't try to be cheaper. Try to be better. Don't try to compete on low social standards."

Uh-huh.

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