Europe’s COBBLED squares have echoed this autumn to the sound of police sirens and shattered glass. The continent is undergoing one of those periodic spasm(痉挛；阵发)s, when parliamentary politics struggle to handle social discontent. In France and Germany, protests began against underinvestment in education. In Spain and Italy, it was a housing crisis. Across the continent there is anger at rising prices. The shared underlying problem is this: many Europeans want levels of public spending they can no longer afford, while fragmented parliaments and populist politics make it almost impossible to fix the problems.(共同的深层问题是：许多欧洲人想要的公共支出水平已负担不起，而分裂的议会和民粹政治又让问题几乎无法解决。)
今年秋天，欧洲的鹅卵石广场上回荡着警笛声和玻璃碎裂声。这片大陆正经历周期性的痉挛——议会政治难以应对社会不满。在法国和德国，抗议最初针对教育投入不足；在西班牙和意大利，导火索是住房危机；整个欧洲大陆，人们都在为物价上涨而愤怒。共同的深层问题在于：许多欧洲人想要维持的公共支出水平，他们已经负担不起；而碎片化的议会和民粹政治，又让解决问题几乎无从下手。
For decades Europe has offered its citizens an unusually comfortable level of benefits and protections. European Union countries spend 10% of GDP on public pensions, on average, nearly twice the share in America. EU countries devote nearly 30% of GDP to public social spending, compared with less than 20% in America. Angela Merkel, a German former chancellor, once noted with disapproval that Europe accounts for 7% of the world’s population, 25% of global GDP and 50% of global social spending.(德国前总理默克尔曾不以为然地指出，欧洲占世界人口的7%、全球GDP的25%，却占全球社会支出的50%。) Europe, she concluded, “will have to work very hard to maintain its prosperity(繁荣；富裕) and way of life.”
几十年来，欧洲为其公民提供了异常优厚的福利与保障。欧盟国家平均将GDP的10%用于公共养老金，几乎是美国的两倍。欧盟国家将近30%的GDP用于公共社会支出，而美国不到20%。德国前总理安格拉·默克尔曾不以为然地指出，欧洲占世界人口的7%、全球GDP的25%，却占全球社会支出的50%。她得出结论：欧洲“将不得不非常努力，才能维持其繁荣和生活方式”。
Some countries, notably hers and the Nordics, did the hard work and made the protective state more affordable, although even Germany is now facing a crunch(紧要关头；压力) over social spending. Less responsible countries have kept on borrowing and ducking hard choices(逃避艰难抉择). Five have public debt levels at or above 100% of GDP, including France, Italy and Spain. Ten, including Belgium, France and Italy, are now subject to(受制于；须遵守) the EU’s “excessive-deficit procedure(欧盟过度赤字程序)”. This is a sort of naughty step, designed to put those who break the union’s rules (which cap debt at 60% of GDP and budget deficits at 3% of GDP) under scrutiny and correct their wayward behaviour.(这有点像“罚站”，旨在把违反欧盟规则（债务上限为GDP的60%，预算赤字上限为GDP的3%）的国家置于审查之下，纠正其任性行为。)
一些国家——尤其是德国和北欧国家——付出了艰苦努力，让福利国家变得更可负担，尽管如今连德国也面临社会支出的压力。不那么负责任的国家则继续借债、逃避艰难抉择。有五个国家的公共债务达到或超过GDP的100%，包括法国、意大利和西班牙。包括比利时、法国和意大利在内的十个国家，目前受制于欧盟的“过度赤字程序”。这有点像“罚站”，旨在把违反欧盟规则（债务上限为GDP的60%，预算赤字上限为GDP的3%）的国家置于审查之下，纠正其任性行为。
