More seriously this reminds me of how careful we have to be with the comparisons between the US and even the EU-15 (let alone EU-25). Greece, Spain, Portugal and more recently East Germany have all been "added to the union" in relatively recent history (certainly in "geological economic time"). Isn't this year the 20th anniversary for Spain

On another tangent, it's very interesting to look at these figures, particularly the breakdown for Sweden (87% employment rate in this group!) alongside the reports around the Swedish election citing discontent at a sluggish economy that is not providing enough jobs.

Now some of that is about disenfranchisement of 18-25 year olds, but there was also some indication of a large number on "disability benefits."

The fun thing about "flexisecurity" is that it riles up economists on the grounds of "moral hazard." Fundamentally it runs into the narrative of the "feckless poor" and causes a mess.