President Barack Obama is in Tokyo this morning. He told reporters at a press conference Monday, he’s still weighing the options concerning a troop increase in Afghanistan.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke out against leaks to the media on both Afghanistan and the shootings at Fort Hood.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates got a behind the scenes look at the newest all-terrain vehicles when he toured a production plant Thursday in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Michael Mullen was in Tokyo Friday for meetings with Japanese leaders.

NATO defense leaders are meeting in Slovakia Friday, to discuss a number of issues, including current operations in Afghanistan.

The top commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, announced the creation of a new NATO headquarters.

With all of the international economic news we subject ourselves to, it seems that a lot of the economies internationally solve their financial issues by way of the socialist system or democratically.  In this case, democratically means tax-and-spend.  But you know what, folks?  There is one nation who, like the Republicans, have the right formula to correct our economy.  Want to guess which country it is?  No, not Australia.  Count out Japan too.  The country I am referring is New Zealand.  That’s right – New Zealand.  And the captain of that ship?  Their prime minister John Key.

His approach to correcting the economy – and it’s working in New Zealand – is rather simple:  improve productivity.  His idea which is totally night-and-day different than other industrialized nations isn’t exactly popular in Tokyo, Canberra or here in Washington, D.C.  Those 3 capitals are attempting to right their financial ships by offering stimulus packages.

According to Key, stimulus packages are risky; he further adds,

“You’ve saddled future generations with an enormous amount of debt that then they have to repay. There is actually a limit to what governments can do.”

Now, a little bit of a brief intro to Mr. Key before I proceed.  He is the youngest of 3 children, was raised in state-run housing in Christchurch (which is the south island of New Zealand), earned a BA in commerce from the University of Canterbury and made his way prior to public service as a foreign-exchange trader.  Key’s government – which includes parties to the left and right of the Nationals (his party) – has immediately moved to a regimen of tax cuts, regulatory reform and the retooling of the government.  Kind of has a Reaganesque flavor to it, wouldn’t you agree?

Now here’s where our country can possibly learn something.  Key’s program endorses personal income tax cuts which are on the high side (38% as of April 1), especially in comparison to Asian countries nearby.  Right now, Key is focusing on chipping away at regulations that drive away foreign money – which is opposite of the U.S. which is re-regulating their markets in the midst of their financial crisis.

Key also tackled “big government” by launching a line-by-line review of every government department and committed his government to cap new spending in its May 2009 budget, adding,

“If we want to fund new initiatives, we by definition have to stop [funding] some of the things we don’t think were working. . . . We’re just getting better value for money.”

Key is – like myself – leery of that global warming propaganda yet has to do a balancing act as they, like us, have to deal with the “Cap-and-trade” scheme (not program, scheme).  Key’s take on “cap-and-trade”?

“New Zealand needs to balance its environmental responsibilities with its economic opportunities, because the risk is that if you don’t do that — and you want to lead the world — then you might end up getting unintended consequences.”

Key also believes that the world. trade-wise – is slowly losing its borders, meaning they don’t particularly subscribe to “protectionism”; they signed a free-trade agreement with China, signed an agreement with the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations and are in the midst of negotiations with India and South Korea.  Key has said that Korea – presumably North Korea – wants a FTA with us.

Key would like to see us regain a strong dollar policy – hopefully President Obama is heeding this – and says that his biggest fear is inflation on the back of rising money supplies, stating:

“Economic theory will tell you that inflation is going to rise — and that inflation will be exported around the world. . . . In the short term, I’m not criticizing U.S. policy: I think inflation is probably the thing that’s going to be necessary to get them out of the current issue. [Federal Reserve Chairman Ben] Bernanke sort of signaled that. But longer term, inflation is cancerous to your economy.”

Perhaps now you understand why I said earlier that Prime Minister Key gets it.  They don’t have the financial issues we have, but then again, Key’s policies are pragmatic in nature.  But there’s a lot that the United States can learn financially from New Zealand – and they can thank Key for the advice.