>The so-called new economy has firmly implanted itself in the United States, helping to generate the longest U.S. economic expansion ever recorded. The United States leads the world in many aspects of the internet-based economy and in technological innovation.

Where do you base this on? The US is not particulary known as an innovative country you'd like to think of. A few examples:

- The US TV is a mainly NTSC protocol, far inferiour to europes PAL.
- In the netherlands, High speed internet integration is the highest in the world.
- Your healthcare system sucks big time.
- Infant morbidity rate is the highest amongst civilized countries.
- Luckely your government acknowledged the stupidity of the "Intelligent design" hype.
- You still are using the imperial systems for measurements. If the US was so innovative, why did they not accept the far superiour metric system yet ? And why did your Ronald Reagan stop the acceptance of it ?
- Why are the US so ignorant about sexual education and its relation to teenage pregnancies?
- The US lays far behind europe when it comes to a healthy environment. Innovative technologies in this respect are not done in the US (Solar power, wind energy, etc.)

Most science breakthroughs are done elsewere or if in america with a huge foreign contribution (scientists came from elsewhere and went to america for funding). Your infrastruture is out of date big time, as shown by katrina and power failure because of outdated infrastructure a few years ago.

>Meanwhile, Europeans have been grappling with high unemployment, slow growth and out-of-date economic models. All that may now be changing, as Europe begins to embrace the new economy, and economic recovery gains ground.

Huh, high unemployment... Lets see. the fact that the US has low unemployment (BTW, The netherlands aren't doing so bad), is that many people are excluded from that list, so you can't directly compare the numbers directly (Statistics almost always lie). Further, though many people work, about 40 million people are excluded from healthcare and living below the minimum wage. Great... that is a good example...

>The reality is that since Ronald Reagan, this is the stongest economy the US has ever had.

And the fact is also that the current administration has created more debt than all prior administrations combined. IOW, we, the europeans are fearfully watching what is going to happen when the china express takes off and the US can't artificially boost its economy anymore by ever increasing its debts as the dollar loses value against the euro, yen and other currencies. The US currently is playing a dangerous economical game, with a lot of risks for the future, but not too many americans do realize that right now.

The european economies are build in a very different way and not so much focussing on individual wealth as the americans do. We live in a much more social environment where healthcare is something obvious and unless you really screw up, you'll have a decent house to live in and enough to eat. The governments try to look ahead far more than only a few years and anticipate on problems as much as a few decades away. And when you're 65 (though they are going the increase that age) you'll get a pension from the government. You'll be taken care off. This is something that europeans value more than individual wealth for the few who happen to have it.

I wonder, have you ever been in europe ? Do you have a clue of what europe is about ?

Walter,