Rafil Kroll-Zaidi on the meltdown:
As the economy contracts, the inexorable logic of the American political economy is to increase protectionist and unilateral measures, as if the United States were still a net creditor as in the late 1970s. If such policies are pursued (which caused the world trade negotiations to collapse earlier this year) the results will be disastrous for America: the current orderly diversification from the dollar may become disorderly.
This article available online at:
http://www.theatlantic.com/daily-dish/archive/2008/10/how-to-make-it-worse/209981/
