The truth that politicians (David Cameron’s UK government excluded, at least for now) are reluctant to admit is that Western Europe’s current morass is distinct from the global US-made downturn. Old Europe has entered into a severe and intractable crisis of the welfare state as ordinary Europeans have come to know it.
而事实上，政治家们（卡梅隆的英国联合政府暂时除外）都不愿意坦白承认：西欧当前的困境其实是跟美国引发的全球衰退截然不同的。普通欧洲人正逐渐意识到“老欧洲”正陷入一场福利国家所独有的，难以解决的严重危机。