It is the state treasurer's job to keep his eye keenly on the economic ball and at the first sign of trouble, he blows the whistle.

    If you look closely you can see Andy Dillon puckering up.

    While the domestic political blame game continues on whether the Tea Party cabal caused the Monday meltdown on Wall Street, the experts assert it was an international deficit/red ink problem that precipitated the tumble.

     Mr. Dillon is also looking over seas for the "real" threat to Michigan's comeback.

     The bogey man is not on Wall Street or in the Congress.  "The biggest risk I see is you have trouble with Greece, Portugal, Spain, Italy and Ireland.  If trouble happens there, I could see a contagious effect that could affect our economy in North America."

     Translated:  You thought Monday was bad, try world-wide bankruptcies on for size.

     Years ago before all this economic globalization mumbo gumbo, folks on this side of the pond give two hoots about what happened on the other side.  Now the harsh reality is if anyone of those countries goes in the dumper, the resulting shock waves could reach these shores.  And your 401-K goes down another notch.

      Some Democrats are crying about impending federal budget cuts that may also impact Michigan's fragile recovery but even though he is a Democrat, Mr. Dillon has not joined the chorus.

      In fact he's singing a different tune. In the near term the state is harvesting more money than anticipated and even if Congress slices some services here, Mr. Dillon figures the state can survive.  But he warns three to five years out, if the feds continue to whack away at its deficit, "we need to be prepared for it."

      So despite the harsh reality this week, apparently all is not lost…if you believe Mr. D.

      You do, don't you?