ìJumping Out of Sick Bay,î by Thomas L. Friedman, New York Times, 29 April, p. A27.

Great quote in Friedman piece: ìTwo-thirds of the reason for [Japanís] recovery is China,î says a Japanese management consultant.

Japan and China hold almost $1Trillion in U.S. Treasury bonds. Increasingly, their view of the world will merge, with Chinaís moving closer to pragmatic Japanís. The U.S. is looking at a dual strategic partner in this pair. We better get used to it, plan for it, and exploit it whenever possible. Those two countries bought the bulk of the sovereign debt we floated to pay for the Iraq war. We better make sure they get the outcome they thought they were buying when they purchased all that debt. Otherwise, next time they may not finance the war.