With our own political process so gridlocked that a congressional supercommittee is needed just to keep government operating, it's tempting to consider the ongoing European fiscal, debt and political crises as concerns confined to another continent.

They're not, of course. Instead, we're being reminded that the degree of international interconnectivity in global economic and banking systems creates real risks -- and provides a cautionary tale -- for Americans, too.

Globalization has meant great gains for many U.S. consumers (although not always for U.S. workers), because it has increased choices and lowered prices of consumer goods.

It's also often been a boon to U.S. investors, many of whom have significant exposure to multinational companies through direct or indirect investments.

But it also means that, more than ever, our fates are intertwined. So if, or when, Greece defaults on its debts, an economic event like the Lehman Brothers collapse of 2008 could plunge European, American and even global economies back into a recession. Or worse.

To avoid such a calamity, an expanded bailout fund for shaky euro zone countries such as Greece, Portugal, Italy, Ireland and Spain is grinding its way through several European nations' parliaments.

That includes Germany, the richest, and thus most crucial, nation, which approved the expansion last week. Attention now turns to Slovakia, as each of the 17 European Union countries using the euro have to agree to the revised plan.

America isn't in the same situation as the fiscal basket cases in Europe. But it could be headed that way unless we address our overextended and unbalanced entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, as well as chronically underfunded public pensions.

Indeed, as in much of Europe, the implicit promises made by bipartisan politicians can be addressed only if action is taken soon.

Unlike Greece, which has had to impose economy-shrinking and life-changing austerity measures, we still have some time to take more incremental steps that can go a long way toward solving the problem.

But to do so will require the kind of political cooperation that's been virtually nonexistent in Washington this year.

Despite the dysfunction, our political system is actually more streamlined than Europe's. But just as our economies and financial systems are linked, there are parallel perils of inaction.

The cold calculus of financial markets has forced Europe's political system to act. To avoid a similar fate with Wall Street calling the shots on Pennsylvania Avenue, President Obama and GOP leaders in Congress can't continue to play out the clock through the 2012 election.

Obama should revisit the proposals of the Simpson-Bowles Commission, which he appointed but then pointedly ignored.

And Republicans should be less ideologically rigid and come to the realization that overspending and undertaxing got us into this mess, and only spending cuts and, yes, tax increases, will put us on a more sustainable path.

The European debt crisis is not our problem to solve. It is ours to observe and avoid.