Examples of the European "deal"

Martin Wolf of the Financial Times recently commented on how the West is losing its economic dominant position. "Some are saying that economic stresses are emerging in the US and Europe that signal the end of the West's economic dominance [paraphrased*]. I think of it as the end of “the deal”. What was that deal? It was the post-second-world-war settlement: in the US, the deal centred on full employment and high individual consumption. In Europe, it centred on state-provided welfare. "

Here's a great example... The man working at the fries counter in Brussels the other day decided he had had enough. So he yelled at all the customers about how these are fries... not "fast food" (right)... and then sat down to have a coffee and probably a cigarette. Of course, we had little choice. We could either wait or... wait... as the other fries place is now on it's month long vacation to I-don't-know-where-you-can-go-on-the-money-you-make-selling-fries, but I'm sure it's nice.

There's "the deal" right there.

My response: "you make fries, man." Please just make me some fries.

* "Three years and new faults lines threaten" by Martin Wolf. Published in the Financial Times: July 3, 2010