If a senator calls me up and asks me what should we do in Iraq, I'm happy to talk to him.

My friends all say I’m going to be Secretary of State, [but] I don’t see how that would be much different from the job I have now

In a very weak economy, when you say 'cut government spending,' what you mean is you're laying off school teachers and you're de-funding various programs that put money into the economy. This means you have more unemployed people that then draw unemployment benefits and don't pay taxes.

Culture follows power.

It is absolutely clear that government plays a key role, as a catalyst, in promoting long-run growth.

Media reporters have pointed out that the paragraphs in my Time column this week bear close similarities to paragraphs in Jill Lepore's essay in the April 22nd issue of The New Yorker. They are right. I made a terrible mistake. It is a serious lapse and one that is entirely my fault. I apologize unreservedly to her, to my editors at Time, and to my readers.

Street protests in Saudi Arabia might warm our hearts, but they could easily lead to $250 a barrel oil and a global recession.