Years from now, we’ll be telling our grandchildren about Halloween 2011 and the gruesome tale of the Euro Debt Crisis. Imagine their nightmares about zombie politicians trying to contain the walking dead in Greece, at the risk of losing Italy and Spain to the space-borne virus.

The first hapless victim was Dexia, a Belgium bank that easily passed those patsy stress tests in July and found insolvent in October. With the European banking system undercapitalized for the inevitable impact of sovereign restructurings, it’s like comely teenage lasses checking into the Bates Motel.

As we watch the gasping Euro economy, we know that the sequel will be staged in the United States, unless generational leadership is shown by the US bipartisan debt-reduction committee. This committee needs to chainsaw $3 trillion from federal spending over 10 years to engender business confidence and inspire the capital markets.