Economics, Trade, and Leadership -- Live-Blogging II Posted by Michael Signer

Highlights from a heavy-hitting panel titled, "Prosperity and the Global Economy: Rules and Caveats in Trade and Aid," moderated by Dan Tarullo, a professor at Georgetown and a Senior Fellow at CAP.

Bob Kuttner, the founder and editor of The American Prospect, talks ominously, a little hauntingly, about the intersection between economics and American leadership, as illlustrated in the past by the Bretton Woods regime and the present by the Administration's complete lack of economic leadership through trade. He's saying that hedge funds will be the cause of the next global economic meltdown, because hedge funds are just unregulated funds -- and economics is displacing and obviating the nation-state, which, after all, is the locus of citizeznship. Later, during Q&A, Kuttner talks more strongly about the need to regulate global capital.

Lael Brainerd, an economist at Brookings who's written a book about the Millenium Challenge Account, talks about the need for exceptionalism that earns its own legitimacy -- the current administration, she's saying, has a tendency toward exceptionalism that removes itself from accountability, that literally makes an exception of itself -- whereas in economic regimes there's a strong case to be made that our exceptionalism would simply function better if we viewed ourselves as members of a community of nations.

Kemal Dervis, the Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, talks with great admiration about the Marshall Plan and the United States' willingness to commit over 1% of its GDP to rebuilding Europe in a "difficult time" (no kidding). He notes that, today, inequality is increasing both globally and in America -- as a reason for "embedding markets in the institutions." He floats a very interesting idea for weighting voting in international institutions by sovereignty -- how do you give

But -- whew! -- talk about ominous... Carol Browner, the former Administrator of the EPA under President Clinton, is talking about global warming. "Our last great moment may have been our first moment," which is when U.S. scientists brought the issue to the stage. The Rio Earth Summit in 1992, for instance, where the topic of binding targets was discussed. When we've been at the table, she says, we've led, which is a different way of saying just what Brainerd also says. When we're not arrogant, we're exceptional. It's in our DNA -- we just have to let our leadership (rather than bullying) flourish. She observes that the current Administration not only doesn't participate -- they disrupt the proceedings.