To a certain extent, Europe does do socialism better. I'm sure if you could plot the corruption & waste per taxpayer dollar, the US would win.
Former Eastern Block states had a completely incompetent and corrupt government, meaning movement to open markets was the only direction and the results are awesome. Estonia is a perfect example.
Hmm, how do you do socialism better? Germany, as propsperous as it is, has chronically high unemployment (from 10% up to 20% in some areas) and a huge crisis right now with funding their version of social security (which they are unable to do.) What is really impressive about the Germans is that they actually look at the money they have and think about how that money is spent (in the public realm and private realm) instead of the smoke and mirrors we get here about how much something will cost and how it will be funded. Germans like precision, especially with money, even government money which is great to see, but does not solve the underlying impossibility of success with socialism. Germany is successful to the extent that it is capitalist - the socialist side is what prevents Germany from being as impressive as it should be.
The unemployment rate in Germany currently is 8.8%. Bad enough, but far from 10-20%. In the East there are some regions with more than 20% unemployment, but on the other hand in the prosperous southern states (Baden-Wurttemberg, Bavaria) it is about 5-6%.
The news of this thread seems to refute that. Living in Germany, my impression is that the government actually thinks it can generate value by raising taxes.
I would define "do socialism better", as programs that come closer to the intent, with successful deployment. A concrete example: Scandinavian heath care might fall apart in the US from corruption -- something that isn't a problem so much there.
I'm not saying socialism is a good idea, even in Europe.
Right... you could say that the United States is 33% socialist, based on the tax rates. Is it inherently better for a government to tax corporations instead of owning them? I look at China, which owns 30% of Lenovo and has shares in many Chinese companies and wonder if a combination of taxing and partial state ownership is the way to go.
Germany and other rich EU countries are spending quite a bit of money in helping the poorer members converge (a spectacular success case is Ireland). I think the benefits of that will be seen long term.
The long term is already here - the results: high unemployment, stagnating innovation, financial crisis in the public sector with unfunded liabilities. Germany is now lengthening retirement age, raising taxes, lowering benefits, etc to try not to go under. And the high unemployment is really a big deal - it is giving rise to a growing rightest (ie neo-nazi) movement in Germany, and I think to Islamic extremists in France, etc.
Former Eastern Block states had a completely incompetent and corrupt government, meaning movement to open markets was the only direction and the results are awesome. Estonia is a perfect example.