The gravy train goes down the drain

As Margaret Thatcher famously noted: "the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money..."

What we're seeing in Greece is the death spiral of the welfare state. This isn't Greece's problem alone, and that's why its crisis has rattled global stock markets and threatens economic recovery. Virtually every advanced nation, including the United States, faces the same prospect. Aging populations have been promised huge health and retirement benefits, which countries haven't fully covered with taxes. The reckoning has arrived in Greece, but it awaits most wealthy societies.

Other nations--including the U.S.--are furiously shoveling money at Greece... but this only treats immediate symptoms, not the problem. It also accelerates the day of reckoning for other countries who would rather leap to Greece's aid than face their own looming bankruptcy. When Greece finally runs out of "other people's money," it will still be insolvent... and in plenty of company.