Not exactly known as a hotbed of mad dog leftist sentiment, the German newsweekly Der Spiegel recently published a long piece on the failed arrogance of the Bush years, the loss of American prestige around the world, the economic miscalculations and missteps since Reagan, the hubristic greed of Wall Street. All this and more in a five part article that includes:

* Part 1: America Loses Its Dominant Economic Role
* Part 2: Bush's Failed Leadership
* Part 3: Wall Street's Central Values: Avarice and Greed
* Part 4: Irrational Exuberance
* Part 5: 'One Can See that We Are on a more Solid Base'

Blunt and scathing, it provides a fascinating overview, a centrist European critique of the current global economic crisis, its antecedents and its likely unfolding, distinctly placing blame on the Bush II regime. Too long to re-blog, I link to it here.

On the cover, "The Price of Arrogance", with the Statue of Liberty holding aloft a smoldering torch.