Europe is coming to Chicago for the NATO summit in the next few days and the great temptation is to set up a quarantine room at O’Hare International Airport. Our visitors have a bad case of the financial flu. We can only hope it’s not catching.

Greece could collapse in a matter of weeks when its banking system runs out of funds. The tiny Aegean nation’s economic illness could spread to the sickly and much larger economies of Italy and Spain. That would be disastrous for Europeans and a serious problem for Americans. US economic growth depends on the success of the 27-nation European Union, which, taken together, is America’s biggest trading partner. Eleven of those 27 countries have slipped back into recession.

Many of them would like to stimulate their way out of recession with government spending. But practically every nation in Europe’s southern tier has piled up way too much debt and cannot afford to keep borrowing. Germany, the strongest economy, has rightly forced austerity measures on its free-spending neighbors as a condition of bailouts. While the NATO summit will focus on the defense alliance, you can bet the arguments over Europe’s economic future will be hot and heavy here.

Europe really has no choice but to work off its huge debt over time, though that will hamper economic growth. Its monetary union may wind up losing one or more members. It faces years of slow growth or no growth ... or worse.
Europe, welcome to Chicago. Please try not to sneeze. — Excerpts from Chicago Tribune editorial