Unified Global Strategy for Economic Recovery? Maybe Next Year

This week in South Korea, the G-20 countries labored until early this morning to bring forth an agreement that left nobody satisfied. After days of dispute, the President of France today called the agreement "better than disagreement." Brazil and Germany opposed US plans to stimulate growth before reducing the deficit. China accused the United States of deliberately weakening the dollar. President Obama failed to get a free-trade treaty with South Korea, and conceded that "instead of hitting home runs, sometimes we're going to hit singles." What are the prospects of a trade war with China? How does global policy affect American standards of living?