Bitcoin Forum

http://www.webcompact.net/index.php/news/33665-dummies-guide-to-what-went-wrong-in-europe (http://www.webcompact.net/index.php/news/33665-dummies-guide-to-what-went-wrong-in-europe)

I can tell you want went wrong in less than 10 words without even reading that article:

They tried to emulate the flawed FED model.

Basically.  Also, I read that article months ago.

Here is a forum post from 2011 that is the earliest reference I can find (only looking at the first page of results):
http://www.archery-forum.com/showthread.php?24849-Dummies-guide-to-what-went-wrong-in-Europe

Why imply the problem is somehow specific to Europe?

Replace "Europe" with "any place with debt above 50% of annual GDP". That's especially, but not only public debt.

Besides fiat-debt-based-currency, there is a simple explanation for the mess.

One currency, one central bank, but multiple countries with their own fiscal policies and debt issuance. In essence, the country that borrows the most, takes the most advantage of the system (until it breaks......).

Perfectly described by Philipp Bagus in his little book ( http://mises.org/books/bagus_tragedy_of_euro.pdf ) and forewarned by Friedman ( http://super-economy.blogspot.nl/2011/11/again-with-krugman.html ).

Not to mention the fraud the Greek government committed with American banking help to hide Greece's debt and squeak into the Euro.  Anyone been prosecuted for that fraud yet?  Any jail terms handed out?  Nope.  It's all 'we didn't know! who couldn't have known!' as the politicians responsible all suddenly get amnesia and play morons.

In a nutshell, bravo

What went wrong in europe was with the people. The people did not stand up when important matters were being deliberated and legislated, voted upon, nor implimented. At least not as many people as was needed to stop it. It is only when they feel the after effects that they have a problem.

The European Union is what went wrong in Europe.

Nothing really has gone terribly wrong - a European living today has a better life that 99.99% of all the people who have ever lived.^{[citation needed]}
Even the unemployed in Europe have 42 inch plasma tvs and ipads

The European countries spent all their energies on fighting with their neighboring nation states, and thus lost their empires.

Wait, are we talking about something else?:)

WTF; LCD and LED are better..  I'd be thinking about rioting in the streets if all I could afford was a Plasma..

Actually this article is not entirely accurate. Helga as the originator sells DRINKBONDS to her bank. This protects her and her suppliers and consequently she avoids bankruptcy. The rest is very accurate.

They did (in the UK at least) - and they got their LCDs

First World Problems (http://thechive.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/first-world-problems-10.jpg?w=500&h=332)

Lol...