flapping gums

G-7 finance officials pledge to limit effects of energy crunch on economy
An intense discussion of the energy situation dominated the meeting attended by representatives from the United States, Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada.
"Higher oil prices are a headwind" and the global economic expansion "is less balanced than before," the finance officials said in a joint statement.
...
The Group of Seven countries endorsed more timely and accurate information about the oil market, which officials said could help control price fluctuations and make companies more willing to expand production.

I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during the G-7 meetings this week.

I even imagine a hint of desperation in the pledge to get energy costs under control - the global stock markets all fell at the end of the week, 400 points in 3 days in the U.S.

Sure, we've seen it before.

As we know, back in 2001, the US national debt was ~ 5 trillion, now of course it is ~7.5 trillion.

Numbers are fun. A trillion is a thousand billions. A billion is a thousand millions. And so on.