The Continental Divide.

This article refutes some of the misconceptions about the economies of Europe and the U.S. One of them is that while modern Europe has social democracy--with generous benefits, long vacations, and short working hours--this comes at a terrible price: high and chronic unemployment, technological stagnation, and social torpor. Another is that America has a weak welfare state, with low wages for the unskilled but plenty of jobs. As everyone says, we are unequal but dynamic, entrepreneurial, and socially fluid. Left and right agree that these are facts. They disagree only on what to do about them. American progressives want us to become more European: to work less, play more, take time out for a drink. Meanwhile in Europe, conservatives want to become more American.