WASHINGTON, D.C. Dec 2 (DPI) — American readers who usually clog comment boards with opinions and occasional insights on news events are at a relative loss for words regarding the European debt crisis, a survey of news sites suggests.

For instance, a Wall Street Journal article headlined “Merkel Calls for Urgent Action” generated a paltry 57 comments in its first 12 hours on the screen, while a sports op-ed piece by Jason Gay — “What Tim Tebow Can’t Do” — generated more than 200 comments in its first 12 hours.

NYTimes.com comments on the EuroZone crisis are even fewer. The Dec. 2 article on Merkel’s latest remarks generated only 19 comments as of 2pm Friday.

The dearth of US reader comments on the Eurozone crisis stem from two factors: the immediate economic problems in the US take a mental center stage for Americans, and the Eurozone crisis is ongoing and much more difficult for the lay reader to understand. Thus many readers are reluctant to offer their opinions.

Still, commentators and pundits have addressed the Euro-crisis:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/18/opinion/brooks-the-technocratic-nightmare.html?ref=davidbrooks

One of the best explanations of the difference between the crises in the US and Europe can be found here, in an op-ed by Harvard economist Martin Feldstein:

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/feldstein42/English