The Wall Street Journal calls the economic implosion now taking place in Europe “a crisis of the welfare state.” The latest European nation to hit the wall is Italy, where national debt is 120 percent of gross domestic product. That is, for every dollar their national economy produces, they owe $1.20.

The Journal calls this a crisis of the welfare state because this Italian national debt well in excess of the ability of Italians to pay for these obligations is the direct result of excessive government spending.