You are the Treasury Secretary of the United States serving under President Blah D. Blah. Your

appointment and confirmation was the result of political wrangling, and if you're honest with

yourself, you have no business being there. You were a fine brain surgeon at NASA, but you

haven't dealt much with international politics since your American Economic History class at

Weber State. However, you were just informed that an upstart little country called Tayloristan

has declared itself a nuclear power. President Blah has requested an emergency meeting to

discuss the situation, after which he will make a statement to the press.

Congress and the media are calling for tariffs on Tayloristanian sniggledribbit, while the

majority of the Presidential Cabinet is opposed to any thing like a trade war. Tayloristan has a

comparative advantage in making sniggledribbit, a mysterious substance that is in high demand

in the United States. Sniggledribbit is produced in the U.S., but as everybody knows, there is a

hint of ecstatic wonder in the earthy start, developing into pillow-soft euphoria, followedd by a

smooth yet mellow finish in the thing that just can't be beat. This makes the American version

okay, but nothing you'd take to your mother-in-law's house for Thanksgiving. If American voters

have to pay one thin cent more for their precious sniggledribbit, there is no knowing how far

the madness will go.

You will have exactly 7.5 seconds in the meeting to present your opinion to the President On

the rest of this page, write down word for word what you will be telling President Blah at the

emergency meeting. The fate of the world hangs in the balance, choose your words carefully.