This morning I listed to an economist, Larry Summers, and an ideologue, Steve Forbes, present what our media considers a fair and balanced response to the Standard and Poors’s decision.
Summers, as a professional, presented facts. Unfortunately, the discussion ended up with Forbes insisting that none of this was the fault of the Repricans. The economy would, according to the Forbes heir, soar if the US only cut taxes and deregulated the economy. 
Lets look at some objective news. This AM, the Israeli stock market plunged more than six percent. Isn’t the reason obvious? Israel’s economy is leveraged off ours. Israel, moreover, has been doing very well. Even under Likhud, underlying principles of Israeli government are that the government has responsibility for providing opportunity. Netnasyahu’s “conservative” economics are far, far to the left of anything Obama can get done here in the US of A.
No Israeli leader would ever support the Ayn Randish concepts that drive Forbes or his TPers. Exactly those issues have led to massive protests in Israel and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised economic reforms .
Unfortunately for Germans, Swedes, and Canadians … Netanyahu’s problem is theirs as well. All of these social democracies are leveraged off of the American economy. The ugly image of Reprican costumed patriotism is not selling … Israeli investors know that cutting US education, social services, infrastructure leads to a Debacle. The world will see the same thing.
International markets are expected to drop this week.
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