Few gulfs between the US and Europe run deeper than their approach to insuring people against life?s vicissitudes.

One side of the Atlantic clings to the notion of a welfare state ? if not the cradle-to-grave version beloved of postwar socialists, then at least one where governments mandate some form of universal healthcare and pension provision. In the US, meanwhile, the more basic social security and medical safety net provided by the government is dwarfed by generous health and retirement benefits offered by large employers ? a voluntary paternalism long ago dubbed ?welfare capitalism?.