It says something about this new global economy that USA Today

When Lawrence Summers spoke the words, “It says something about this new global economy that USA Today now reports every morning on the day’s events in Asian markets,” he was not speaking lightly, but pointing to a transformation in the very order of the world. These words are both observation and prophecy, for they reveal that the walls once dividing nations have been made porous by trade, finance, and technology. No longer does a country live as an island. Instead, the beating of a drum in Tokyo, the rise of a tide in Shanghai, the flicker of a screen in Hong Kong—all these can send ripples into New York, London, and beyond.

The origin of this quote lies in Summers’ tenure as a voice of economic thought during a time when globalization was no longer an abstract theory, but an undeniable reality. For centuries, economies had been tied by ships, caravans, and letters, but never before had information moved so quickly, nor fortunes been so interwoven. By the late twentieth century, American newspapers could not report on their own markets without first recounting what had already transpired in Asia while the West slept. This dependence was not weakness, but truth: in the global economy, the sun never sets on commerce.

History offers us a mirror in the ancient Silk Road, that long path of caravans and cities stretching from China to Rome. Along that road, not only silk and spices traveled, but also ideas, inventions, and wealth. A famine in one land might raise prices in another; a war on the steppe could disrupt the markets of the Mediterranean. In the same way, Summers reminds us that the fate of one region is tied to the fate of all. The modern stock ticker is but the Silk Road reborn, only faster, louder, and more consuming.

The quote also warns us of interdependence—that no nation, however mighty, can ignore the currents beyond its borders. Once, America may have believed its economy stood apart, unshaken by foreign winds. But as Summers points out, the very newspapers of the land must confess each morning: before Wall Street wakes, Asia has already written the prologue of the day’s tale. What happens there shapes what unfolds here. Power is no longer solitary; it is shared, contested, and entangled.

Yet, this truth is not cause for despair but for vigilance and wisdom. For if prosperity and crisis alike now flow across oceans at the speed of light, then the wise must learn to look outward as well as inward. Just as a sailor watches not only his own sail but the horizon beyond, so must leaders and citizens understand that their well-being is bound to the choices of faraway markets. To deny this is to be struck unprepared by storms one refused to see.

The lesson is eternal: the world is one body, and its parts cannot suffer without affecting the whole. If one market collapses, others tremble. If one region prospers, opportunity flows outward. Therefore, we must cultivate not only national strength, but also international cooperation, empathy, and foresight. In this new economy, the enemy is not distance but ignorance, not foreignness but blindness to connection.

So let the children of tomorrow remember Summers’ words: “It says something about this new global economy…” It says that humanity has entered a new age, where wealth and hardship alike are shared, where the fates of continents entwine like the roots of ancient trees. To thrive in such an age, we must not cling to isolation, but master the art of connection. For the markets of Asia at dawn and the markets of America at dusk now sing the same song—one of interwoven destinies, demanding wisdom, courage, and unity from all who dwell upon this earth.