Living beyond our means: is Europe the canary in the US coal mine?

 Economist:  Europe has been living beyond its means. Now the bills are due

For decades Europe has offered its citizens an unusually comfortable level of benefits and protections. European Union countries spend 10% of GDP on public pensions, on average, nearly twice the share in America. EU countries devote nearly 30% of GDP to public social spending, compared with less than 20% in America. Angela Merkel, a German former chancellor, once noted with disapproval that Europe accounts for 7% of the world’s population, 25% of global GDP and 50% of global social spending. Europe, she concluded, “will have to work very hard to maintain its prosperity and way of life.”

BOTTOM LINE:  As ever, voters want public finances fixed, but not at their expense. A poll suggests that 85% of the French think it is urgent to curb public debt, but 56% also think the pension age should be lower.