US averts default but not trust deficit

Shortly after the US Senate voted on Wednesday night to end the 16-day part shutdown of the federal government by raising its debt ceiling, President Barack Obama said there was a lot of work to be done, including the need to earn back the trust of the American people.

That is indeed true. Recent Gallup and Pew Research Center polls show that the American public's confidence in the Obama administration, the Congress and the US economy has nose-dived since the latest political and financial stalemate in Washington began. But Obama failed to even mention that the US should also try to win back the trust of the people around the world, especially if the US still wants to maintain its global leadership.

At the joint annual meeting in Washington last week, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim and International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine Lagarde both had warned the US of the disastrous consequences of a possible debt default. And in a statement, finance ministers and central bankers representing the world's top 20 economies had urged the US to take urgent action to address short-term fiscal uncertainties.