Europe's economies thought they were safe. They're not. Europe in recent weeks has witnessed the type of anti-U.S. gloating usually seen during the soccer World Cup, the quadrennial event in which the American team is routed in the early rounds. This year, the spectacle of highly paid American bankers falling on their faces is inspiring lectures from afar. The reckless pursuit of profits, a disdain for regulation, manic risk-taking—all characteristics of self-satisfied U.S.-style capitalism—has led to widespread embarrassment. The tsk-tsk-ing reached a new level with a recent cover story in the German newsweekly Der Spiegel: "The banking crisis is upending American dominance of the financial markets and world politics." The piece notes the delicious irony of the United States' having to nationalize parts of its financial...
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