Martin Wolf in the Financial Times (subscribers only, damn them) has cold comfort on the world economy.
“The true choice may be between going over a high cliff some years from now or going over a rather lower cliff quite soon. The consensus view is not necessarily wrong. There may be a US-led recovery in the next year or two. But it is too short-sighted. The post-bubble adjustment can only have been postponed.”
Jonathan Freedland extends my point the other day about the World Cup. “Here’s the twist. This is one form of globalisation in which America is not the driving force. The US is a bit player, albeit a competent one in the current contest. No, this is one area in which Europe and Latin America lead, recruiting the world to their own obsession.”
Incidentally, I saw an excellent US World Cup participant this morning, when England drew 0-0 with Nigeria, ensuring their passage to the second round (unlike France or Argentina, the pre-tournament favourites). Brian Hall, from the US, was the referee and he did an excellent job, allowing play to flow and not getting fussy with fouls. It’s the first match I’ve ever seen at this level that didn’t produce a single yellow card.
For regular followers of Davos Newbies, an explanation about some days that may seem to have vanished on the site. For the last few months, I was using something called Blogger News Items to make my entries. I’ve reverted back to good ol’ straight Manila, written in Radio UserLand. All those entries between January and today can still be accessed through the calendar, but for some reason Manila entries and News Items can’t share the same home page.