WORLD NEWS: "World Trade Volume Climbs 2.5%: June Data Indicate Bottoming Out, a Key Condition for Recession to End," by Paul Hannon and John W. Miller, Wall Street Journal, 27 August 2009.

Trade will still be down globally for the year, but that incredible drop of 9-10% (the IMF says more than 10%) is looking less permanent and thus less scary--except for countries like Germany or Japan that live on exports.

Some experts say "back to school" explains it, but smart money says "the pickup in trade flows likely reflects the end of drawing down inventories, and the reconnection of global supply chains."

So much for the great era of de-globalization, as China alone seems responsible for Latin America's uplift.

I love the ending here:

Many economists say world trade has considerable lost ground to cover.

Ooooh! That sounds ominous.

So how long, then?

Late 2011 at the earliest.

Really? We're talking the biggest global slowdown since the Great Depression and you want me to have to wait two long years before we make up all the ground lost over the past 18 months? I thought it was Mad Max-land for the next several decades! What am I gonna do with all that ammo in the basement?