It’s Obama’s World

slate.com — Most people around the world will not be able to vote in the upcoming U.S. election, even though they have a great deal at stake. Overwhelmingly, non-U.S. citizens favor Barack Obama’s re-election over a victory for his challenger, Mitt Romney. There are good reasons for this. In terms of the economy, the effects of Romney’s policies in creating a more unequal and divided society would not be directly felt abroad. But Romney’s proposed contractionary policies — the attempt to reduce deficits prematurely, while the U.S. economy is still frail — will almost surely weaken America’s already anemic growth, and, if the euro crisis worsens, it could bring on another recession. At that point, with U.S. demand shrinking, the rest of the world would indeed feel the economic effects of a Romney presidency quite directly.

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