Can We Opt Out Of The Global Economy?

News Flash:   United States opts out of Global Economy

I apologize in advance for any slight misstatement of the facts, but this is pretty much how I see things.  For a bit of background you can read this article (http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-01/foreign-banks-tapped-fed-s-lifeline-most-as-bernanke-kept-borrowers-secret.html), but here's the recap.

Back during the height of the banking crisis, the Federal Reserve loaned money to foreign banks.  Oh my god!!!  No Way!!!  How could we do that you ask?  There's a banking crisis.  Stock prices are plummeting.  Foreclosures are on the rise.  And we do WHAAAAAT?  We loan hard earned cash to foreign banks. 

Ron Paul, the somewhat of a maverick Texas Republican Congressman, points out that Americans will be outraged.  We need that money at home.  How could we loan it to foreign banks.  Some might say, how un-American!

After thinking long and hard, I realized, I'm outraged too.  Why would we loan our money to banks in Belgium, France, and Japan?  We've "gotta" take care of our own.  If these foreign banks fail, tough break.  It's of no consequence to US interests, right? 

Hmmm.  Wait just a minute.  The US is part of this thing known as the "Global Economy".  American companies, multi-national companies, use banks here, there, and wherever.  Some of these banks even have offices, employees, operations, etc. right here in the good old U.S. of A.!!!  If we let a major European bank or a major Asian bank fail the ripple effects at that time of crisis would've been disastrous. 

As participants in the global economy, we can't just ignore problems else where.  I am not advocating being the banker to the world.  I am advocating doing what is in America's best interest.  At that time, doing whatever we could to stave off the domino effect of a credit crunch and liquidity crisis seemed to be prudent.  Perhaps there were other options.  Perhaps with more time a better idea could've been formulated.  Perhaps not.  Unless we can find a magical way to isolate and withdraw from the complex network that makes up the global economy, we need to accept that we are going to have to play a prominent role whenever a crisis rears its ugly head. 

So to all you people out there angry at our Federal Reserve for loaning cash to foreign banks, I implore you to answer my question, "Can we opt out of the global economy?"