Europeans were gloating about the American financial crisis. Not anymore.

Europeans cling to "national champion" companies that receive special treatment. Ireland extended protection to Irish banks but not to the many foreign banks doing business in the country. "The key problem is, and remains, that every bank has a nationality," said Daniel Gros(no relation), director of the Center for European Policy Studies in Brussels, Belgium. The result: "There is zero willingness to engage in a concerted effort."

By design, the European Union and the political regimes of its constituent members were set up to be more deliberate and consensus-driven than the United States—the better to avoid repeats of the 1930s. But in a time of crisis, this diffusion of power is a problem. One may call into question the capabilities of America's financial leaders—Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, et al. But at least we know who they are. Europe has no official or unofficial economic leader. There is no European Treasury Department that can organize a common response. Jean-Claude Trichet, head of the European Central Bank, can't tap into a massive balance sheet the way his American counterpart can. The result has been crisis management by committee. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi wants a joint European fund to rescue European banks. To which German Chancellor Angela Merkel says: Nein!

Europe's travails may provoke a few smirks on this side of the Atlantic, and we're entitled to them. Russian magnates, who last month were buying up trophy assets, are facing margin calls. The dollar is up more than 15 percent against the pound and euro since the summer. But we shouldn't indulge in too much schadenfreude. Being around other sick people doesn't mean you'll get better any sooner. As the title of Der Spiegel's essay warned, recent events should indeed signal "the end of arrogance" of financial systems—on both sides of the Atlantic.