The following article by Bruce Stokes appeared in CongressDaily AM for Thursday, March19, 2009.

The U.S. trade deficit was down $3.9 billion in January, or 9.7 percent, as exports fell, but imports declined even more. The narrowing of America's imbalance with the world is good news. But beware: This could be a sucker's rally.

The trade deficit improvement is largely a product of the spreading global recession. Consumers everywhere are buying less. There is no evidence of the
structural changes that would be necessary to fundamentally alter the global
account imbalances that have grown up over the last few decades and were one
of the principal underlying causes of the recent financial crisis.

When the leaders of the 20 largest economies meet in London April 2, they will necessarily focus on reviving consumer demand and reregulating the global financial system. But they should also lay the groundwork for a Global Bargain to rebalance international accounts.
 

The following article appeared in the Nation on March 11, 2009 and was written by William Greider. 

Congress and the Obama administration face an excruciating dilemma. To restore the crippled financial system, they are told, they must put up still more public money--hundreds of billions more--to rescue the largest banks and investment houses from failure. Even the dimmest politicians realize that this will further inflame the public's anger. People everywhere grasp that there is something morally wrong about bailing out the malefactors who caused this catastrophe. Yet we are told we have no choice. Unless taxpayers assume the losses for the largest financial institutions by buying their rotten assets, the banking industry will not resume normal lending and, therefore, the economy cannot recover.

The following was written by Charles Blum, founder of the International Advisory Services Group Ltd. in Washington, DC and a Director of the Coalition for a Prosperous America.

Growing up in the 1950s, I learned a lot about scare tactics.  In those days, some people imagined a Commie under every bed, as the phrase went.  Only in retrospect did I learn
of the many careers derailed and lives ruined from Hollywood to Foggy Bottom by such irresponsible hysteria.  These days, it’s not Commies but protectionists – aka fair traders, trade skeptics, populists, nationalists, etc. – who are thought to be crowded into America’s sleeping quarters.
 
Almost daily, we get new warnings about the dangers of “protectionism.”  The WTO, the World Bank, The Economist, The New York Times, The Washington Post, a host of ivory tower academics, and other apologists for the globalization model that helped bring us to the current ruinous conditions, all denounce protectionism wherever they see it – and they seem to see it everywhere.
 

The following article by Bill Gertz appeared in The Washington Times online yesterday. 

China is continuing a large-scale military buildup of high-tech forces that includes "disruptive" anti-satellite missiles, new strategic forces, and computer attack weapons, the Pentagon's annual report to Congress on the Chinese military says.

"China has made steady progress in recent years in developing offensive nuclear, space, and cyber warfare capabilities -- the only aspects of China's armed forces that, today, have the potential to be truly global," says the report entitled "Military Power of the People's Republic of China (PRC)" that was released Wednesday.