The unemployment rate in the US is around 4.5%, in many countries in Europe its around 8-9%. In Slovakia its 16.5%, and that's the result of the re-introduction of the market.

The consequences of this unemployment are rather different, and explain why infant mortality for one factor, is higher in the US than Europe - when you are unemployed, you aren't going to be forced into bankruptcy by a medical bill, you will be treated, often with more success than in the US, this despite the fact that the US spends nominally more than twice as much on health care for fewer of its citizens than the Europeans.

The US economy's dog-eat-dog system doesn't seem to offer any great advantages over the European social system at the moment. We all enjoy the fruits of capitalism, but with some buffering.

Steve