Here are some excerpts:

First, the postulate (should I say axiom?):

As is increasingly admitted, the economic performance in nearly every Continental country is generally poor compared to the U.S. and a few other countries that share the U.S.'s characteristics.

Then, the explanation. Continental Europeans have strange, outdated values which are obstacles to the sheer selfishness required to attain economic performance:

The weakness of these values on the Continent is not the only impediment to a revival of dynamism there. There is the solidarist aim of protecting the "social partners"--communities and regions, business owners, organized labor and the professions--from disruptive market forces. There is also the consensualist aim of blocking business initiatives that lack the consent of the "stakeholders"--those, such as employees, customers and rival companies, thought to have a stake besides the owners. There is an intellectual current elevating community and society over individual engagement and personal growth, which springs from antimaterialist and egalitarian strains in Western culture. There is also the "scientism" that holds that state-directed research is the key to higher productivity. Equally, there is the tradition of hierarchical organization in Continental countries. Lastly, there a strain of anti-commercialism.

Sometimes, Phelps sounds like a XIXth century colonial officer talking about the "savages":

But to be candid, I had not imagined that Continental Man might be less entrepreneurial. It did not occur to me that he had less need for mental challenge, problem-solving, initiative and responsibility.

And, yes, there can be no way except the American way!

It was a mistake of the Continental Europeans to think that they expressed the right values--right for them.

Given the depth of the problem, the solution must be radical:

Perhaps the way out--to go from unsatisfactory performance to high performance--will require not only reform of institutions but also a cultural shift

We have already plenty of missionaries (most of the economic journalists) and it still doesn't work. Maybe we should try reeducation camps?

"Dieu se rit des hommes qui se plaignent des conséquences alors qu'ils en chérissent les causes" Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet