We're All Keynesians? Naw.

When Great Britain and Germany opted for fiscal austerity instead of more deficit-ballooning stimulus measures, Paul Krugman warned of a global double-dip recession. He's been doubly refuted, since both countries are beginning to boom.

Gee, 20

Dick Morris and Eileen McGann write that the U.S. gave away some of its economic sovereignty at the recent G-20 summit:

[T]he world's most successful economy, ours -- which is the only one that has produced reliable economic growth for three decades and has lifted real personal incomes almost every year -- is going to subject itself to the burden of justifying its own economic policies in front of a global community of 20 nations, some of which do not even embrace free-market economies in the first place.

Indeed, it is only through access to our markets that nations have been able to escape poverty. Japan, Germany, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, China and India have sequentially trod this path into prosperity.

Obviously, we live in a global economy. But the United States is 24 percent of it. We are entitled to more than one-twentieth of a voice, and it is the world that should be following our policies -- not the other way around.

Suffer The Children

From the President during his press conference yesterday, an elegant expression of a great and good nation's global responsibilities and potential, as reported by Helene Cooper:

“Look, I’m the president of the United States. I’m not the president of China,” Mr. Obama said. Then he added, “It is also my responsibility to lead America into recognizing that its interests, its fate, is tied up with the larger world.”

Mr. Obama said that if America neglected or abandoned poor countries, “not only are we depriving ourselves of potential opportunities for markets and economic growth, but ultimately that despair may turn to violence that turns on us.”

“Unless we are concerned about the education of all children and not just our children, not only may we be depriving ourselves of the next great scientist who’s going to find the next new energy source that saves the planet, but we also may make people around the world much more vulnerable to anti-American propaganda.”

Being Green When We're In The Red

In bad times, some environmentally sound practices thrive; others, especially recycling, evidently don't.