It made me laugh too. But I was wondering what China had to gain by scolding us. I figured they are always trying to establish themselves as an international player, and what better way to project that kind of mentality than to badmouth the world's favorite punching bag, perhaps second only to Israel.

Glad to see you're back Steve, especially now that the debt debate is coming to a head in Washington. I was wondering if you have noticed an uptick in "debt as percentage of GDP" appearing in arguments as I have. Sure, there's the normal amount of demagoguery, but if anything positive has come from the huge upswing in debt we've experience over the last couple years, it may be that more people are phrasing the problem with a more appropriate comparison to the economy. The other argument that has grown on me in your absence is that government spending displaces private sector spending and investment, so increasing government expenditures in an economic downturn is almost always counter-productive. I couldn't remember your position on this issue, but I seem to recall you being OK with the additional spending as long as debt/GDP did not get enormously high. Maybe, as with most things, it was a matter of scale. Word in the last hour is the Boehner plan is likely to pass; great news.