Japan has been frozen, unable to move. The Europeans are happy to let American workers take the hit while they keep interest rates high and move toward monetary union. To avoid a destructive race to the bottom, a concentrated, coordinated consensus is needed to take steps to spur growth in America and abroad. Lower interest rates are a first step. In this sea change, the old conventional wisdom doesn't work anymore.
Free traders denounce the free flow of capital.
Austere bankers pray for lower interest rates, even with employment high. Globe-trotting business executives lobby for protection. For them, it is as if the world does not exist. One hundred million middle-class Asians thrust into poverty don't matter. The speaker doesn't have a clue.