Tuesday, September 30, 2008

SPIEGEL ONLINE - Druckversion - The End of Arrogance: America Loses Its Dominant Economic Role - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International

SPIEGEL ONLINE - Druckversion - The End of Arrogance: America Loses Its Dominant Economic Role - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News - International:
$596 trillion
Wow! Dat's a big nummer!
The triumphalism of the Bush years could easily be followed by the "I'll-sit-this-one-out" years of an Obama administration committed to a strict policy of belt-tightening. If that happens, both old and new Europe will have to demonstrate whether the European Union can rightfully claim to be on an equal footing with the United States.

In the past, the US government's solo efforts provided the Europeans with an all-too-comfortable excuse for simply doing nothing. But that excuse is no longer valid.
Maybe that'll be a good thing.

1 comment:

jj mollo said...

Premature schadenfreud. Apparently some EU types thought it was funny to see the US get caught in a financial quagmire, at least, until they realized the muck was up around their own hips as well. It'll be interesting to see who manages to find some solid ground. Iraq maybe?