ABSTRACT
The banking system of Western Europe is endangered by the precarious debt structure that grew up in the 1970s. Although the economies of Western Europe are interconnected in multiple ways with the economy of the United States (US), they have the capacity substantially to shape their own destiny if they act together. The real problem with large infrastructure outlays is that, if pursued vigorously by one European country, they could yield a deterioration in the balance of payments due to excessive imports. That is an important technical reason why the policy should be adopted by the European Community as a whole, or by most of the community. The argument is that a concerted West European program of the kind could cushion the world economy in the face of the adjustments that the US economy must inevitably make, as well as respond to certain direct West European needs and possibilities.
