good signs

trade is good

In case anyone is wondering. The holiday season tends to drain out free time for my prolonged thought processes. I've had trouble even getting around to finishing several books. Not that I had much actual shopping to do, seeing as I know few people and mostly have cousins to buy for. I think it's mostly a palpable weight that it assumes on my thoughts. Either that or the cold does it and I'm spending my time like Lewis Black with thoughts that fade out into "It's cold", with perhaps more or less profane additions involved depending on the thermometer and my ability to devise a word for my displeasure of frigid air.

In the actual news, this was a good sign. Especially for Vietnam, but more generally, restrictive trade policies are part of the underlying causes of the Great Depression (or at least, they certainly didn't help it). I should hope that we follow this example, particularly since Japan already had a credit crunch and real estate/stock meltdown over a decade ago.