As we are just getting started on what so far is a confusing presidential election campaign, it would be easy to forget how incredibly lucky we are in America.  Our country is very strong and we are isolated from many of the world’s problems.  The terrorist attacks in Paris over the weekend are a grim reminder of this fact.  But we still have responsibility for much of what is happening around the world.

• George W. Bush’s biggest failing is not the Iraq War, draining Medicare funds with a new drug benefit or ramping up deficits with tax cuts that lose revenue. His biggest failing is not foreseeing the financial crisis and at least mitigating it if not heading it off entirely. His financial advisors (Greenspan, Bernanke, Geithner, Paulson) were asleep at the switch. As the Economist makes clear in its latest issue, “First America, then Europe. Now the debt crisis has reached the emerging markets.”
  
• Barack Obama’s biggest failing is not the stagnant economy or massive debt buildup which occurred on his watch, although he could have eased their burden with smarter policies. His biggest failing is his unwillingness to assert sufficient power in the Middle East to head off the chaos we observe today. The enormous European refugee crisis with all of its attendant horrors is largely the result of his inadequate intervention in Iraq, Libya and Syria.

The main concerns of this website are the internal fiscal and economic problems faced by the U.S.  We have to figure out amongst ourselves how to address these very serious issues.  But, like it or not, what we do affects the whole world.  If we fail to meet our responsibilities, the whole world, including us, will suffer with the consequences.

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