Last month, when World Trade Organization (WTO) talks in Cancún collapsed in acrimony, the United States responded with a brave face. Though the meeting was seen as the best chance to push forward the Doha round of trade negotiations, which aims to slash trade barriers and boost the global economy, America’s negotiators insisted the United States would continue to fight for freer trade. "For over two years, the U.S. has pushed to open markets globally, in our hemisphere, and with sub-regions or individual countries," said Robert Zoellick, the U.S. trade representative. "As WTO members ponder the future, the U.S. will not wait: We will move toward free trade with can-do countries." Zoellick’s message is clear: If pesky "won’t-do" countries block the multilateral, WTO route to liberalization, they will be left by the wayside. The United States will instead spearhead a push for free trade through bilateral and regional agreements.
United States
Europe’s mighty economy
The bubble may have burst, but the hubris lives on. Despite Bush administration concerns, expressed at the G-8 summit of leading industrialized countries this week, that economic weakness is spreading throughout the globe, Americans still routinely boast that their economy beats the socks off the rest of the world. Japan? A write-off. Europe? A basket case. China? A threat, perhaps, but still a distant one. While others stumble along, the United States races ahead. After all, President Bush never ceases to reassure Americans that "the U.S. economy is the strongest and most resilient economy in the world."
The bubble is dead: Long live the bubble
For years, they denied it was a bubble. Sceptics just didn’t get it. Then, they swore that it wasn’t as bad as it seemed. The worst would soon be over. Now, they prematurely herald a recovery. Fear not: America’s economy is back on track; the world can breathe a sigh of relief.