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Message: [QUOTE="upstater, post: 3952410, member: 153"] We tend to think of these countries as Socialist but the reality is that the EU forbids a good many things that we're allowed to do in America. For instance, there's no direct buying of bonds by the central bank, it's got to be done in the secondary market, though the CB can buy private corporate debt. The EU is much more capitalist than any of the countries on their own. Any country with a strong social culture built it long before they joined the EU, and some of the rich ones maintained it to some degree (Denmark), while others are slowly sloughing it off (Sweden), Germany hasn't really ever had as strong a system as other countries, and some refused to join the euro so they could maintain their social system (Norway). [/QUOTE]