Am I living in the Anti-Matter Economics World now?

I read this today and jaw dropped wide open. Robert B. Reich, former Clintonista Dept. of Labor Secretary....wrote this? It seems a little bit different than I would have anticipated.

The United States depends on China to finance a big portion of our federal budget deficit as well as our insatiable desire to buy everything under the sun on credit.

So it's a strange time to start a trade war with China. But some Senate Democrats seem to want to. They're pushing a proposal to raise tariffs on Chinese imports by over 27 percent unless China stops linking its currency to the dollar.

Robert B. Reich taking a shot at the Democrats? I seemed to remember him being a little bit more defensive on labor policy in the 1990's. And how about this? On the other hand, he has always been a good talking head for the Democrats and he has participated in the Dem. juvenile fanning of the flames of fear.

Robert Reich calls the forces of darkness who have taken over America "Radcons." That's because the Bush breed of "conservatives" aren't conservatives in the traditional sense at all. They are radical ideologues who are committed to a Darwinian notion of the "reign of the rich" and unbridled corporate greed. Add a slathering of Victorian moral posturing, religious zealotry, and a view of rule by powerful elites.

But what he is saying resonates with me not about the stereotyping of religious idealogues or zealotry but on that China and the USA have common economic interests.

So let's be sensible. We need China's savings. We have an endless appetite for China's manufactured goods. And we want China to be a peaceful ally. Why put China in the impossible position of either letting its currency float and face all sorts of instabilities, or running smack into an American tariff blockade higher than its own Great Wall? Why start a trade war?

On US-China economic relations, Robert B. Reich is starting to sound downright Kudlowesque!