I promise you that there are a lot of people involved in various kinds of retail activities who think they have a crucial role in the economy, and they're right.

The idea that we should be open to all ideas is very different from the supposition that all ideas are equally valid.

It says something about this new global economy that USA Today now reports every morning on the day's events in Asian markets.

When I look out the window at my backyard, I can't think of anything interesting to ask. I mean, it's green, it's growing-but nothing occurs to me that any concentrated effort of thought could possibly enlighten. Whereas in economic, statistical, or mathematical kinds of things, I can think lots of questions.

Blaming speculators as a response to financial crisis goes back at least to the Greeks. It's almost always the wrong response.

It certainly was difficult to sell NAFTA because it's always difficult to sell open markets.

The major challenge for the United States is whether it can become the first outward-looking, continental, nonimperialist power in history.