Early this morning Bush had a short press conference with the G7 finance ministers. The reports of this conference were very misrepresenting. CNN and others said - "the G7 were showing unity and that they stand together." Bush said - "this is no time for any country to try and diminish the fortunes of another." What doesn't the media understand from this? Europe is the most important trading partner with the US, and much of this financial crisis is tied in with representations going both ways over the Atlantic. Within the EU, there is some tension - with some countries wanting a EU-wide bailout and collectivism, while others want to fix problems as they pertain to their nations. What it all comes down to is TRUST. Many/most of the leading European economies have had property values run up sharply and leveraged, just like in the US - but not to the extremes as in the US and the whole credit castle-in-the-sky built up there. However, Germany has had a net decline in property values, and do not share the same complete misery as many of the other countries. Sure, growth is taking a nosedive from all of this - and according to the OECD - it is more so in Germany, naturally when regarding it is the largest EU economy - around 40% - and they export a lot of manufactured goods. Now, what is happening at the G7 meeting is that Germany - at least - is presenting the same approach to bailing out the US from the mess... And to be truthful, is it fair to lay the burden on European taxpayers for the credit run-up in the US, or for German taxpayers to bail out other EU members? No, it is NOT - and trying to do so is totalitarian socialism. With his statement Bush was putting public pressure on the G7 representatives, and there is surely some strong-arming going on there. This will have a lot to say for future cross-Atlantic relations, and the increasing structuring of a proper European defence alliance and defence pact has been a thorn in the eye for the US. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Defence_Agency Also, the new "persona" of Russia after the Cold War when it was in disarray, but is now becoming a "player" again - where they are seeking much stronger co-operation and trade with Europe, this is offsetting the US influence on the region. This has long been reflected in NATO, but it is not just the "political leadership" of Europe doing this - it is the entire population of Europe who reflect this sentiment. The reason for all of this is mainly the Bush presidency - where the neo-conservatives managed to polarize so strongly the world by their aggressive policies and ideology - thinking they could marginalize the rest of the world, and "take the lead" into shaping economy, resource control and defence into a purely beneficial model as the world was changing and developing. Now, the G7 is just a further reflection on this opposition, while everyone understands the turmoil - just as when the Cold War ended and the Soviet collapsed - now is a fundamentally challenging period for the now lone hyper-power of the world - becoming the former(!) hyper-power. The aggressive ideologies polarizing the world, strongly reverberating the ideologies and Israeli concerns as well as the "old-money" concerns for the quickly changing world economy and shift in balance of power -- these ideologies given the opportunity over the last US presidency, have now utterly backfired. There should be no surprise that the backlash is somewhat exacerbated by those who have been suppressed during the surge of those aggressive policies. The game is huge - immense - and the plays are about who is going to pick up the tab. My guess from the G7 talks is that the US will have to face up to its debts, and accept the brunt of the blame - fessing up to their mistakes. The media, Bush and every Xanax-popper out there are using polarized tainted "goggles" to "understand" (read: ignore, skew) what is going on. To some extent, I also have bias, but at least I am describing a much wider picture than the one being selectively presented in the US mass media; and my main concern is how the failing trust and ultimate corruption is being applied to this whole "shock treatment." It is frankly mind-boggling how much is being censored and seems almost taboo in the US media; especially now. The world economy and how the US will interact with trading partners in the future is fundamental to how the US will be able to handle its debt. From the looks of things - it will not be easy to get taxpayers elsewhere to pay up for the US mistakes in handling their own spending. The US president say they have a special responsibility to lead --- read that as they have a special interest in moulding the rescue to their benefit --- that is what it is ultimately about, not about being altruistic. This is biting, pulling hair, eye poking and all you can get in there... all the dirty tricks with all the scheming and threatening as well. Will it do the trick? Hardly, I think - because we are all seeing the bigger picture here.
It now seems that Germany and France are uniting efforts, and Sarkozy and Merkel meeting in France and making symbolic gestures of unity. Bundeskanzler Angela Merkel have outlined a plan similar to earlier banking crisis history and turn arounds in Europe - by nationalizing or taking stakes in banks. France and Germany have also been opponents to all out dancing to the tune of the US in NATO co-operations, and this is a further deepening of this rift. It seems that the Anglosphere supporters are under some pressure. http://www.anglospherechallenge.com/ One might not place this ideology of supremacy at the centre of events, but denying its influence is at a minimum ignorant. It will be extremely interesting to see how Japan develops in the near future, as they have adopted an economic model very similar to the US almost purely consumption-based economy - although not so extreme as the US. If I recollect, the US has traditionally had a roughly 80% consumer-driven economy, while Japan a roughly 65% consumer-driven economy.
The interesting side of this world struggle going on... The United Nations Development Program - Millennium Campaign. http://www.undp.org/ http://www.endpoverty2015.org/
When David M. Walker resigned as US comptroller general, he mentioned the then USD 9tn debt and the USD 53tn "budget" ahead. He mentions how the US totally dominated the world economy after World War II, but are now down from the 50% to 22% and being pressured by economic growth elsewhere in the world. The infamous US Marshall Plan of course cemented US hold on the world economy for many decades. <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/g038fl1bNe0&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/g038fl1bNe0&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_M._Walker_(U.S._Comptroller_General)
Another guy who cried "wolf!" was Paul O'Neill... but he got fired - or resigned - as US Treasury secretary shortly into the Bush presidency. Then he was painted as mainly a crackpot. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Henry_O'Neill What do these guys know? G. W. Bush has a MBA, so he knows "this stuff." When he gives you the thumb up, you sit up straight and smile back to him, right? Well, the old prostate-check may work on many of you guys... but some of us know a bugger when we see one.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Price_of_Loyalty O'Neill harshly criticizes the President, blasting his economic policies and alleged "detachment" from the cabinet process. He described Bush's behavior at cabinet meetings as being like "a blind man in a roomful of deaf people. There is no discernible connection." This sounds like the criticism of how Bush is acting during this financial crisis - that he is like a spectator or bystander - not anything like a leader. Could it be that someone like O'Neill know what they are talking about - or is the MBA of Bush tight and Bush shows just as much insight as anyone - like a stuttering Paulson saying - "the G7 are different nations... w-w-w-w-w-with different economies... a-a-a-and different goals..." etc until he sounds like a completely clueless moron.
Wow, what is the world coming to... an intellectual like Cornel West on CNN Beyond Politics on CNNI right now. Is there sanity awake somewhere after all? I don't subscribe to West's socialist views - but he can certainly be respected as a thinker. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornel_West