To the extent that I follow the workings of the world economy, I did think that Pittsburgh as a site for the latest meeting of the Group of 20 was an unconventional choice. It seems like a seat of national government — Paris, Berlin, London — is the usual suspect for these macroeconomic confabs.

Turns out the Steel City is a unique choice:

The pick was left to Obama’s discretion after the governors of the G-20 decided the event would be held in the U.S. Obama said he chose Pittsburgh to showcase the city’s reinvention from an aging industrial town into a tech-heavy, eco-friendly metropolis with a burgeoning alternative-energy sector. The success story isn’t all hype — Pittsburgh’s unemployment and foreclosure rates are lower than the national average, and the sagging steel industry is no longer the sole engine of the city’s economy. Pittsburgh is just the second noncapital city to hold the event, after Montreal in 2000.

So the Three Rivers metropole is to be a model for a global recovery? The post-recessionary world better pick up a Stanley Cup winner and Super Bowl champion along the way. Because we all know how much the President likes his sports.