Hillary Clinton a contender for secretary of state - FT.com

Around six months ago, when I was still supporting Hillary’s presidential bid, but conceding that it was falling short, I proposed that Obama would take the nomination.  Though many were riding high on the change they could believe in, my concession was based on the speculation that any presumptive Obama administration would likely not feature Ms. Clinton in the vice-presidency, but rather another high role.  Since she would not be vice-president, I envisioned her assuming one of two roles: 1) Secretary of State, or; 2) Senate Majority Leader.

Suffice to say, the emergence of Hillary as a contender for this position comes as little surprise to me, though I also see valid experience in gentlemen such as Bill Richardson and Chuck Hagel.  What I think I would find surprising, is the fact that nobody would have thought of Clinton as a potential pick for the position.  I mean, talk about rupture from current foreign policy; Ms. Clinton would make a phenomenal pick even just to engage in re-igniting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process (which, if moved forward, could put a fundamental crimp in Iranian nuclear ambitions).

But here on this small blog that is read by probably five people every two months, my words go unheeded.  These are the same words that, in August 2007, predicted the financial crisis to become a house of cards, waiting to fall in on itself.  Failure to acknowledge that asset-backed securities trading on non-existing liquidity would cause a ripple effect through the financial markets has caused the current economic crisis, and placed me back on the job market.  When the issue of the $700bn “bailout package” arose in September, many believed that “Wall Street and Main Street don’t cross paths” (further fodder for a discussion on a potential bailout of the American automotive industry).  Now, my former company has had nearly 20% of its assets under management wiped out in one quarter alone.  It is no surprise they had to eliminate positions.

Now, I’m no Nouriel Roubini, with the economic modeling to make these types of predictions.  However I’d consider myself well-read enough to start looking at the world in an interdisciplinary fashion and start piecing pieces of the puzzle together.  This hasn’t yet bottomed out and on a near daily basis, re-invents its black swan tendencies.  Whether I’m John Paulson (also, n.b.– exhibit 1D) or not, the models don’t always work right.

In my opinion,  the only country to correctly take action on the crisis is China; its stimulus package acknowledges the slowdown’s domestic impact, and re-invests in domestic infrastructure.  It is exactly what America needs and what types of steps the next president should take once in office.