European vs. American Financial Institutions

According to a broadcast on NPR, the European banks are blaming America's current financial crisis on too little regulation, too much debt, and not enough savings. Europe sounds like me!

Regulation: You have to have a good understanding of what is happening with your money to be able to manage it. If you've worked in business you've undoubtedly heard the old adage, "what gets measured, gets managed."

Debt: In order to get and/or remain debt free, we must spend no more money than we make, and preferably less than we make.

Savings: It's important to have money set aside each month for all known expenses, and equally as important to have a long-term savings plan to send your offspring off to college, and to someday be able to quit working.

It's a good bet that the government won't bail you out to the extent that they're bailing out the banks right now, since your collapse doesn't jeopardize the global economy. So maybe we as individuals should follow the example of the European banks rather than the American banks.