Transatlantic model wars

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: (in Luxembourg), and when shops should open (in Belgium). That said, European life is less minutely regulated than it was 20 years ago. Even France is changing under Mr Sarkozy.

Perhaps the biggest difference concerns the profit motive. Peer into European debates on privatisation, for instance, and many opponents argue that running a service for profit means pain for workers, consumers, or both. In short, many Europeans still instinctively believe that capitalism is a zero-sum game, in which a company making profits must be exploiting somebody. That is far less true of Americans. European leaders have no problem with profits as such, or even with those who make them. But many of the voters they answer to are uneasy about capitalism. Mr Sarkozy’s call to make high finance “moral” has deep roots. When crisis management turns to a debate on new regulation, Americans and Europeans will start from different places.