UNITED STATES: "How new a deal? Comparisons between Barack Obama and FDR are misguided," by Lexington, The Economist, 22 November 2008.

Again, most experts are saying, better to go overboard on the stimulus right now than go light--given that globalization's long-term coherence may depend on it. But here the Economist (or at least Lexington) says, go easy on the comparisons to FDR's first 100 days. Okay, okay, those arguing for a wholesale reinvention of the U.S. government are smoking ideological dope, and there's plenty to debate about any possible bailout of Detroit, but to me, the question of the stimulus mindset is clear: the USG must do anything it can to get the ball rolling, especially when the rest of the Core is scrambling to do the same. If we opt out of any such effort, the collective effort is doomed to underwhelm and/or unravel. So yeah, I guess I get the point here: stay focused on the crisis and don't go hog wild on trying to reverse the entire Reagan legacy. But here--again--is where I see the Clinton economic ties helping out immeasurably. In many ways, Clinton's greatest legacy was the rapid expansion of globalization through financial connectivity. That legacy is now at risk. So far, Obama is saying all the right things, and so long as the Dems in Congress don't get out of control, we should have the best possible political shot at making this crisis go away at a reasonable speed.