Or so says Niall Ferguson—Harvard financial and historical guru. The recession crunch is going to get much worse before it gets better, and the intensity of the seemingly short-lived “Buy American” scare is only the tip of the iceberg. It started yesterday when Abu Dhabi snapped up Nova Chemicals at bargain-basement pricing. Financial power is quickly moving to the world’s creditors—often major sovereign wealth funds—and away from its debtors—us.

“It’s revenge of the sovereign wealth funds. They got burned. And this time, no more Mr. Nice Guy.”

This is a provoking interview with Niall Ferguson, one of North America’s top public intellectuals, and I recommend it for a Tuesday morning read.