The election of a Democratic president who has

declared that his first priority is a set of active policies for economic

recovery has produced a mix of reactions all too familiar to European social

democrats. On the one hand, there is genuine relief, going far beyod enthusiasm

for Clinton himself, that after years of drift and decline there is the prospect

of something being done about slow growth, rising unemployment, and decaying

social and economic infrastructure. And "something being done" in

America will have reverberations around the world.

On the other hand, there is that nagging fear that today accompanies every