Comment on "Europe must take its medicine" (China Daily, Oct 27)

The author, M.D. Nalapat, is right that the European Union must scale down its social systems because it is facing a dramatic demographic change and the fiercest competition from Asia it has ever known.

I agree that developing countries should not buy European government bonds. But they should, as China does, invest more directly like in the case of Volvo. India and China could produce a share of their exports in the EU, too.

The causes of the EU debt crisis are several. The first is the major weakness of the Western democratic system. Voters are fed with promises, which are not covered by the real economic strength in a low growth environment.

Some ruthless players and politicians are unwilling to establish rules in the so-called financial markets.

Some sectors of Europe's industries are not competitive in the global market considering their high labor costs.

In the ill-constructed euro community, some countries are not able to keep up in productivity with others.

Johannes Rauter, via e-mail

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(China Daily 11/07/2011 page9)