Earnings Corporate joy

European companies are in a profit paradise. Second-quarter earnings per share for the companies that have reported were up 27% over last year, according to Lehman Brothers. The sharp growth brings earnings to a level 50% higher than in 2000. Ebitda, a measure of operating cash flow, is up a healthy 30% over the five years. The profits are not only paradisiacal because they are so good. They also seem to be as distant from the normal economic world as heaven is from earth. GDP forecasts for 2005...