The Economist has found new ideas in a book from Alberto Alesina and Edward Glaeser about the long conflict between Europe and US.

"Nothing better encapsulates the different attitudes of America and Europe to the poor than a table towards the end of Alberto Alesina's and Edward Glaeser's remarkable book*, due to be published later this month. It compares the prevalence of three beliefs: that the poor are trapped in poverty; that luck determines income; and that the poor are lazy. The first is held by only 29% of Americans but by 60% of citizens of the European Union; the second, by 30% of Americans and 54% of Europeans; and the third, by contrast, by 60% of Americans and 24% of Europeans."

"Government spending in the United States is about 30% of GDP; in continental Europe, where it includes most health-care spending, it is about 45%. Almost two-thirds of this spending is on welfare. Americans, by contrast, are much more likely to give money privately. They appear to have given $691 per head in charitable donations in 2000, compared with contributions of $141 in Britain and a mere $57 in Europe as a whole."

In my eyes as a liberal it appeals much more to let people choose when and how they want to give. Strong competition of various welfare non-profit organizations and competition of for-profit insurances are a much better economic decisions, than redistributing large amounts of taxes through public hands, let's see how long Western European welfare systems can tackle the issues of strong migration and aging populations...