The Peace Prize

Norway announced their award of the Peace prize. The winner? The European Union. From the New York Times:

Nobel Peace Prize for European Union, Mired in Crisis
The Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded its 2012 peace prize on Friday to the 27-nation European Union, lauding its role over six decades in building peace and reconciliation among enemies who fought Europe�s bloodiest wars, even as the Continent wrestles with economic strife that threatens its cohesion and future.

The award also seemed to illuminate competing visions of Europe as both historical unifier and meddlesome overlord, recalling deep strains within the bloc, primarily between Germany and other European nations over Berlin�s insistence on austerity to resolve the euro crisis, measures that have brought pain to Greece and Spain in particular.

As soon as Spain and Greece were tied to the same currency as France and Germany, they started spending profusely with no regard for their own future -- they knew that the rest of the E.U. would have to bail them out if the E.U. was not itself to crash. This is a management issue and not something that just happened. But wait, it gets better:

At a news conference, Mr. Jagland said the committee had �no ambitions� that the $1.2 million prize would solve the multibillion-euro crisis, and suggested that the origin of Europe�s current economic uncertainty was the United States.

�There are many things to say about the economic crisis � where it originated, for instance,� he said. �It started in the United States, and we had to deal with it.�

He added, �It started with Lehman Brothers.�

Excuse me but hell no -- the economies of the E.U. are not that closely linked to the USA that our own problems would trigger your own problems. You got yourself into this and you need to get yourself out. As long as you pass the buck and do not own up to your own stupid policies, you will continue to flounder.