All of the incessant debate about development assistance, and whether the rich are doing enough to help the poor, actually concerns less than 1% of rich world income. The effort required of the rich is indeed so slight that to do less is to announce brazenly to a large part of the world: 'You count for nothing.' We should not be surprised, then, if in later years the rich reap the whirlwind of that heartless response.

History is written by the rich, and so the poor get blamed for everything.

The runs started in Thailand after the IMF intervened in such a dramatic way. Then the IMF came to Indonesia.

It's not an accident that the U.S. ranks lowest of all major donor countries in the world - that is the share of our income that goes to development aid. Americans will ask whether, because were so generous privately, that makes up the difference. But it doesn't. We still rank far below other countries.

If we did go into a recession, something that's always possible for the U.S. or Europe, we could lower interest rates and expand the money supply without worrying about the price of gold.

The defining challenge of the 21st century will be to face the reality that humanity shares a common fate on a crowded planet.

I believe myself that there's a great deal more interest and engagement among Americans than our politicians recognize.