"Can anything perk up Europe?" Re-phrased, can the European Union make the short-term changes necessary to survive in the long-run, let alone take back preeminence as a world entity? With the largest economy in the world, the EU has been put in a place to make tough political decision by the global recession of 2008-2009 if it wants to avoid collapse. In contrast, China has created an extremely successful banking system and under its current model, only one thing can "guarantee its demise: success". In both cases, government will need to make significant changes if they are to achieve long-term prosperity.
