Europe's collapse: So much for socialized medicine?

Some say Europe's financial crisis proves that no nation — including America — can sustain the rising costs of socialized health care and similar programs forever

Greek crowds protest budget cuts: Is dismantling social programs the answer to Greece's financial crisis?
(Image credit: Getty)

With Greece's financial meltdown threatening to spread, the European Union has approved a $1 trillion rescue program to support countries buckling under massive debts. But economists warn that even nations with stronger debt profiles than Greece face long-term collapse unless they cut spending significantly on universal health care, retirement, and other social programs. Is Europe's debt crisis proof that socialized medicine and other generous government entitlements are unsustainable? (Watch Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) urge Europe to change its spending habits)

This is the end of the "welfare state": This isn't just Greece's problem, says Robert Samuelson in The Washington Post. Nobody — including the United States — can "overspend and over-borrow forever." Modern governments have promised aging populations "huge health and retirement benefits" without collecting the taxes to pay for them, and now we're witnessing "the death spiral of the welfare state."

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