I don't know enough about the EU system to have a strong opinion, but Paul Johnson sure makes it seem every bit as doomed as communism: The EU is built on a fantasy--that men and women can do less and less work, have longer and longer holidays and retire at an earlier age, while having their income, in real terms, and their standard of living increase. And this miracle is to be brought about by the enlightened bureaucratic regulation of every aspect of life. All this is wonderful, but it is dependent, even in theory, on the European Union's expanding continuously, its economy running at full throttle, its productivity steadily increasing and a profound peace cocooning the world in a nest of luxurious tranquility.

One thing I wish he would have touched on was the Social Security system here in the US - because it is built on this same assumption of a continuously expanding economy (or population). If the number of people moving into retirement begins to outpace the number of people entering the workforce for any semi-significant period of time (5-10 years), something dramatic will need to be done to save the program - large tax increases, major benefit reductions, etc.

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