David Brooks v. Volkskrant: 1-0

I only just saw David Brooks' column of last Tuesday with a useful broader perspective on the current financial-economic crisis--or, as one should probably say, financial-economic-political crisis. It's not new to suggest that politics (both ideology and practical legislative measures or lack thereof) have much to do with the problems in the financial sector. However, I found Brooks' analysis of how the crisis, and its probable resolution, is creating a new U.S. political-financial "establishment" insightful as well as somewhat reassuring. More insightful certainly than this morning's Volkskrant, which has several pieces on the crisis where a combination of resentment toward the U.S. and glee over its crisis outweighs careful analysis. I will name names, why not: Marcel van Dam, and the often more interesting Michael Zeeman. (I don't see these articles on the website, so you'd have to go out and buy the paper, which you should do with many different papers on a regular basis anyway)