Niall Ferguson i Financial Times har skrevet et morsomt, forholdsvis pessimistisk og ikke minst tankevekkende tilbakeblikk på 2009. Et imaginært tilbakeblikk naturligvis. Et av de sentrale poengene hans er at USAs relative posisjon i verden vil bli styrket og ikke svekket i 2009. Ikke fordi USA får det lett. Men fordi problemene er større andre steder:
"On the other hand, the troubles of the rest of the world meant that in relative terms the US gained, politically as well as economically. Many commentators had warned in 2008 that the financial crisis would be the final nail in the coffin of American credibility around the world. First, neo-conservatism had been discredited in Iraq. Now the “Washington consensus” on free markets had collapsed. Yet this was to overlook two things. The first was that most other economic systems fared even worse than America’s when the crisis struck: the country’s fiercest critics – Russia, Venezuela – fell flattest. The second was the enormous boost to America’s international reputation that followed Obama’s inauguration."
Ferguson har spennende refleksjoner om blant annet respons på finanskrise, interne maktkamper i Obamas administrasjon og forholdet mellom USA, Europa og resten av verden.
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