Europe tends to favor stability over democracy, America democracy over stability.

The most dangerous diminutions of freedom come from those who are convinced of their moral rectitude.

You cannot spend your way out of recession or borrow your way out of debt.

The next Euro-elections will be a step towards a United States of Europe

The 'EU in a Nutshell' is a miscellany of facts and anecdotes about the system which rules us. It's a book you can delve into in pursuit of a particular fact, or crack open for entertainment at virtually any page.

You cannot carry on forever squeezing the productive bit of the economy in order to fund an unprecedented engorgement of the unproductive bit.

The U.S. states that allow for citizens' initiatives tend to have fewer laws and lower taxes than the ones that don't. But the beauty of the system is that it encourages the spread of best practice.