Even if European unemployment can fall to, say, 8% before triggering inflation, that is still much higher than America's structural jobless rate, which may be as low as 5%.

ECONOMIST: Growth and jobs

And growth will slow inexorably unless several serious structural weaknesses are fixed, including a faltering education system, low workforce participation and a sometimes sclerotic public sector.

ECONOMIST: The next generation | The

The structural resilience of the EU as a system has been very low (1 on a scale from 1 to 5) since November 2010 and this is certainly not a good omen.

FORBES: America in Danger of Collapse?