Twenty million, four hundred ninety-eight thousand, four hundred minutes.

Thirty-nine years to you and me.

He has been dead now longer than he lived. But his words are timeless:

Letter From Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963

MY DEAR FELLOW CLERGYMEN:

While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would have little time for anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statements in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.

I think I should indicate why I am here In Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the view which argues against "outsiders coming in." I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Frequently we share staff, educational and financial resources with our affiliates. Several months ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct-action program if such were deemed necessary. We readily consented, and when the hour came we lived up to our promise. So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here I am here because I have organizational ties here.

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Just a question:

Given that this recession is a global one, and given that international finance and trade are least partly to blame for the global economy's current condition, and given that his speciality is International trade theory and international finance, has co-authored the "standard" textbook on international economics theory and policy, why has Paul Krugman -- who advocates massive stimulus in the US, nationalizing the banks and has offered up other pointed critiques of the Obama's administration's economic plan -- NOT done the same to -- er, for --our international allies who are pursuing policies that would be inconsistent with his game plan to fix the economy? After all, international economics is his forte. And it wouldn't international economies need to follow a similar (albeit country-specific) strategy for this global economy to revive?

So what does Krugman have to say to the "internationals"  about their economies and what is the good doctor's prescription and lecture for what they should be doing? Is he penning withering op-eds in Berlin or Paris? Or just the Big Apple?