QUE PASSO, CHE?

Now with Argentina watching us like a hawk, The Leader sallied forth today on the first step of implementing the "Framework for Sustainable and Balanced Growth"--I'm not kidding, that's what he calls it--by announcing he and Ma Belle are off to Copenhagen to bring back the Olympics to Chicago. The fact that half the people in Chicago want no part of the Olympics in 2016 for goodness sakes but seem to be focused on jobs for today and an end to children murdering children in the streets has not swayed the Dynamic Couple. 8-5 neither of them have been to Copenhagen. Oh well...

Anyway, this Framework is going to require the U.S. to borrow less and import less. One assumes that The Leader asked the remaining G-19 what they thought about that import less part but I'm sure in his mind there was little need for that. The reciprocal is that the rest of the world (read, China) is going to export less and focus on internal demand. Riiiight. Last time I looked there are about 1,000,000,000 people in China and only about 3-400,000,000 of them have a day job. Now if 600,000,000 people aren't working it's pretty hard to make goods for people who have no money and if they stay among the mass of the unemployed it's a pretty sure bet that one might experience some domestic unrest before long. Hence, the shift in economic emphasis might be a difficult act to pull off. Indeed, if memory serves (and I'm not yet THAT old) this sermon has been repeated over and over for the last 10 years and we still have sinners. As for the U.S. reducing it's trade deficit, that might be a touch easier but not by much as with the fiscal deficit estimated to increase by 10 TRILLION dollars by 2018 and debt-to-GDP to settle around 100% of GDP (up from 60% IN 2007) one wonders who will have any money to spend on anything except for the fact that we would have to increase our exports and in case you haven't been watching closely dear reader WE DON'T MAKE ANYTHING ANYMORE.

Now Larry Summers may be a lot of things but stupid is not one of them. Summers, The Leader's head economic hummer was at one time the chief economist of the World Bank and surely he has seen this sort of thing before, usually in places to which one didn't travel without a bodyguard. But do we hear a peep from Larry about the nonsense that was being spouted in Pittsburgh last week? Of course not. And was there disagreements or mutterings from any other point on the compass on the rubbish being put forth? Nah. Why, you may ask? Simple, is my answer. Unless you are willing to sail a gun boat up the River Platt nobody gives a damn and nations will continue to act in their own best interest just as they always have since the beginning of time. There was a time when I was willing to believe that this mob showed some promise but after this nonsensical display, I doubt it. Platitudes, nothing but platitudes.

Oddly enough, I received a call this morning from an old friend of mine, a Brit who has managed to do rather well for himself in the foreign service and who actually was in Pittsburgh last week, I think in an official capacity. He stayed over for a bit of a holiday and was making the rounds of old friends.

"Quite a gathering," says I.
"They're all the same, Charlie, they never change."
"What did you think of our guy," says I?
"Oh, we absolutely love him," says he. "An absolute breath of fresh air."
"Really. Still?"
"Absolutely! He's a rock star."
"Well, that's good to hear, I guess," says I.
"Indeed. You have a real winner. Of course, he's a total prat as well."
"Why did I see that coming."
"Because, you're not entirely dumb ol' boy. Never have been."
"Thank you, I suppose."
"Don't mention it."

We'll talk about the dollar tomorrow in what will be a short week. We have a Brit arriving on Thursday.