The US budget debacle has elicited comments from various key players abroad about whether the US is a reliable economic power, and whether the dollar should retain its current privileged status. The concerns have begun to become more probing as analysts have tried to dissect the roots of the crisis. Jose Antonio Ocampo is a highly regarded economist who has often been critical of US policies. He has written an essay about the US’s privileged role in the International Monetary Fund.
The spying by the US National Security Agency (NSA) continues to roil the world. First, there were reports about spying on the Brazilian government which caused the Brazilian President to cancel a state visit to the US. Next came revelations that the US spied on the Mexican government on Mexican position papers on how to bargain with the US over certain trade matters. Now, it appears that the NSA intercepted over 70 million telephone calls in France. Spying is an old tradition in world politics, and there is no government that does not do it. Getting caught spying, however, is a grievous offense–it questions the competence of the spook and whether the illicit information could be used for a broad variety of reasons not related to statecraft.
There are a number of countries that appear to be heading toward some sort of debt crisis as economic growth slows down. The reduced economic activity lowers the tax revenues of a state, but rarely is that decline matched by a decline in expenditures. Global debt, therefore, is rising at quite a fast rate. We use credit rating agencies to measure the degree of risk posed by certain countries, and here is an essay that explains how the ratings are determined.
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