The main problem with the Americas and Western Europe is that both societies relied on predatory neoliberal capitalist policies beginning with Nixon's closing of the gold window in 1971. During the 49 years after this happened, Americans were able to live a lifestyle they cannot financially afford. The financialization of the so-called sickcare system that began under Reagan expanded to include Ireland, Malta, the UK, and a few other countries between the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the 2008 financial crisis. Austerity programs were initiated in both North America and some areas of Europe as a result of the financial crisis, which caused more financialization of the so-called sickcare system, which in turn reduced the number of hospitals in the US, UK, Mexico, Ireland, Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Malta. The overinvestment of the socialist healthcare system that was seen across the rest of Europe outside of the UK contributed partly to the European sovereign debt crisis that lasted from 2010 to 2017. As a result, North America and Western Europe were woefully unprepared to handle a viral pandemic. Predatory capitalist systems cannot handle pandemics well because they cannot produce enough health infrastructure that would allow the pandemic to be handled properly in order to allow for the companies to maintain their profits. State capitalist systems are more successful.