printThis is not even a case of the pot calling the kettle black. It’s plain insane. Barack Obama is the president of a country that is, with full presidential imprimatur, devaluing its coin and all private savings in order to conceal the ever-accreting public debt. China’s monetary policy, which is its business, is geared toward production; toward growing its economy out of any foreseeable economic straits.
Brainy boy is so stupid as to demand that China strive for a “balance” (of what? Debt and credit?)
“The president, speaking at a news conference in Seoul, suggested China bears much of the blame for global trade imbalances, The New York Times reported. He abandoned his usual cautious language on the subject and said China and other countries should not assume ‘their path to prosperity is paved simply with exports to the United States.'”
Wow, BHO is unaware that China produces for the world. But then Americans do think America is the world. In that, BHO is very American, and not so much of an alien.
Recall that Lazy Boy issued the same dire warning to Germany’s Ms. Merkel:
“U.S. President Barack Obama [has called] for Germans to aid the global recovery by spending more and relying less on exports.”It is not only Germany that Obama wishes to knee-cap economically, but Canada, Japan and China too. Given that big-spending Americans exist at the sufferance of the frugal, productive Chinese, I don’t quite know how this would work.
“Ms. Merkel countered that Germany’s growth and employment are rising—and therefore the world’s fourth-largest economy has no reason to rethink its dependence on its powerhouse industrial sector and large trade surplus.”
UPDATE I: WSJ: “We don’t like to see U.S. Treasury Secretaries so completely shot down by the rest of the world, except when they are so clearly misguided.” An understandable sentiment, except that from where I’m perched, I can’t recall when last an American president went abroad on a worthwhile mission.
Rather than leading the world from a position of strength, Mr. Obama and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner came to Seoul blaming the rest of the world for U.S. economic weakness. America’s problem, in their view, is the export and exchange rate policies of the Germans, Chinese or Brazilians. And the U.S. solution is to have the Fed print enough money to devalue the dollar so America can grow by stealing demand from the rest of the world. …
But why should anyone heed this U.S. refrain? The Germans are growing rapidly after having rejected Mr. Geithner’s advice in 2009 to join the U.S. stimulus spending blowout. China is also growing smartly having rejected counsel from three U.S. Administrations to abandon its currency discipline. The U.K. and even France are pursuing more fiscal restraint. Only the Obama Administration is determined to keep both the fiscal and monetary spigots wide open, while blaming everyone else for the poor domestic results. …Meanwhile, China and other Asian economies see first-hand that rather than spurring more U.S. growth (on which Asian exporters still depend), U.S. monetary ease has flooded the developing world economies with dollars they’re not able to absorb; produced exchange-rate turmoil to the detriment of the region’s traders; and sent the world’s dollar-denominated commodity prices climbing.
No one is giving voice to the following thought—and whenever I mention this point, posters on this blog equivocate—but truly, the austere economic policies leaders are pursuing in Europe and the UK bespeak of some love of country and sense of duty. These Obama, and Bush before, is without. The terrible two have done things that, ultimately, hurt their countrymen horribly; they’ve trashed the country and its coin via war, welfare and debt.
UPDATE II (Nov. 13): What do busybody conservatives have against China for producing in response to demand? Why is the centrally planned, state counterfeiting of money even remotely comparable to the production of made-in-china junk in response to the demands for made-in-china junk? Mad at the Chinese for their exports? Why do you buy them?
American Sinophobes should remember that “China has undergone considerable economic restructuring and market reforms, the consequence of which is a 300 million strong Chinese middle class. Poverty levels have receded from “53 percent in 1981 to 8 percent in 2001. Only about a third of the economy is now directly state-controlled. As of 2005, 70 percent of China’s GDP was in the private sector.” The Chinese financial system is duly being liberalized—banking is diversifying and stock markets are developing. Protections for private property rights are being strengthened as well.”
“China is changing. It is ‘out of the red’ in more ways than one. The US is changing too: It’s in the red and getting redder.”
The irony is that both AUTHORITARIAN China and REGULATED America engage in economic distortions – China pushes down its own standard of living to obtain full employment and produces cheap junk in return for T-bill “pictures of George Washington” while America heavily taxes savings and borrows money it cannot possibly repay to artificially boost its standard of living.
Although Orwell could have appreciated the historical convergence of “commie” and “capitalist”, this all may end very ugly in a financial Armageddon when the T-bill Bernanke Bubble pops.
When does the bubble pop, Myron? I’ll be surprised if they can keep the charade going another 12 months.
Paradoxically, the more reckless they are, the longer the fairy tale global economy lasts, although the consequence is an even more severe correction.
Why would the Chinese listen to an affirmative action beneficiary?
The Chinese, like all other tribes on the globe – except for parochial, ignorant whites – are acutely race conscious. Just ask the Tibetans and the Uyghurs. The Chinese know that the two occupants of the White House are frauds.
So, why would they give him the time of day, especially since the regime just announced an arms deal with its nemesis India?
He’s an empty suit.
The German leader was awarded a PhD for her studies in physical chemistry. I’d like to believe that her scientific training is positively applied to political issues in the sense of being able to spot, and reject, total B. S. arguments such as those our leaders try to advance toward countries whose economic policies position them well.
I believe we should also remember, some 30-40 years ago, when the label, “Made in Japan” was considered a joke in America. Since that time, many Americans have preferred Toyotas and Hondas to our domestically-produced vehicles. It was competition that forced our auto industry to improve (I believe it has–my last Ford purchase worked well for many years) but you don’t get there by telling other nations to “balance” their export-import index. You have to be better than the other guy, producing a good product at an affordable price.