David Weman at the new group blog A Fistful of Euros discovered Crumb Trail while cruising for CAP posts and had some phun here. It gets a bit tedious being called a conservative by naive leftists but the possibility exists that given sufficient time they will come to understand what leftism is about.

In the comments added to that post Scott Martens seems to grasp the concept of development and its relationship to value added production but waffles a bit about the necessity for good trade management asserting that it is more important for LDCs than DCs. This is false. The world is networked, when one country catches a chill several others sneeze. The members of the world community have some obligation to take good care of themselves since their failures also affect others.

It's can be frustrating to have to measure and balance lots of factors, to accept limits and practice patience and persistence, but quick and easy solutions don't exist, there are only quick and dirty fixes that leave the base problems unsolved, possibly to fester. In this case it is imperative that DCs solve their own economic failures as well as improving their behavior as world citizens. It won't do any good to grant LDCs access to DC markets if they have no money to buy the imported products.

All countries must manage their trade relations and domestic policies well so that they make useful contributions to world society on a continuing basis over time. Quick changes of direction, lurching from failed policy to failed policy, doesn't help.