Another view of the financial crisis from across the Atlantic.  At least in thsi case, they examine whether the world really will be better off if America retrenches in the face of its fiscal problems.

"But democratic capitalism is now on trial. It faces huge homemade problems and formidable competition. Fortunately, there are many variants of democratic capitalism, not just the one that is erupting in the US. For some Europeans, it will be tempting to say: "Ah, if only you Americans had adopted our nice, humane, equitable version of social democratic capitalism!" Indeed, when the dust cloud has cleared and the lava has stopped flowing, the role of the state in the US economy may look more like that in some European countries. But against any easy claim of superiority, we have to remind ourselves that most European economies are struggling to generate jobs, innovation and entrepreneurship as the American economy has succeeded in doing for much of this quarter-century. Anyway, there's not just one European model but many - and other variants elsewhere. That's a strength, the strength of pluralism."