The global finance news is grim these days. Several members of the European Union are in trouble. The credit rating of the United States has been downgraded. In some countries, severe austerity measures have been adopted. To satisfy demands by "investors" that their financial houses be put into order.

I stumbled over that term, "investors," last week in a story about the U.S. economy. Let me get this straight, these "investors" are dictating to governments and their populations how their economies should be run?

I don't recall electing any "investors" to dictate to Georgia or the United States how government was supposed to be run. Or to dictate to us what social programs we can have. In a democracy those are decisions we as voters get to make.

These "investors" need a lesson in democracy and sovereignty, the sort possessed by governments. The first step is to find out who these "investors" are, that is their identities. There could not be that many "investors" who can threaten governments and national economies.

I am sure the people in Greece and Italy would be very interested to learn the names of the firms and individuals responsible for their deprivation and pain. But there is more to their identification than simply "outing" them.

No, the flip side is that governments ban together to set limits on transfers of investments in and out of countries. Let's put an end to the treats posed to national economies by these identified "investors."

I suppose they can stop investing and withdraw to the Antarctic with the John Galt types and eat their gold. But they need places to invest as much as countries need their investments.

Patrick Durusau is a Covington resident.