Berliner Morgenpost, Germany
America as Scapegoat
and Last Best Hope
By Clemens Wergin
The London G20 was one of those tentative beginnings attempting to bring new order to the world. The crisis plus two wars threaten to overextend the United States as the leading economic and global peacekeeping power.
Translated By Ron Argentati
3 April 2009
Edited by Katy Burtner
Germany - Berliner Morgenpost - Original Article (German)
It could be called the summit of ironies: Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy again made quite clear that the United States was to blame for all the evils of the financial crisis (while failing to mention that European companies were also wildly spinning the speculative roulette wheel of global finance themselves).
Too greedy, too much borrowed money, too much consumption – those made up the three charges against the Americans. But they love the fact that America is trying with everything in its power to haul the world out of recession – even if they’re doing it with more borrowed money and more consumption incentives.
Everything has changed: the world is seeing the end of an era in which the United States served as a role model and the rest of the world confidently followed its example. At the same time, everything remains the same: the world hopes the United States will turn out to be the driving force behind the global economy while they prefer to stay politely in the background. It’s the St. Florian Principle of international politics where the other guy pays and everybody else reaps the profits. (Trans. Note: St. Florian is, among other things, the patron saint of chimney sweeps and fire fighters. A popular rhyme in German-speaking countries goes, “Oh, Holy St. Florian protect my house from burning down; burn down someone else’s instead!). In London, the Europeans rejected American efforts to get them to pump more money into their economies, although British and Americans, and French and Germans managed to come to a mutual accommodation on the subjects of financial market regulation and cleaning up tax havens. At any rate, the most important nations agreed to significantly pump up the International Monetary Fund. That will benefit those countries closest to insolvency.
The London G20 was one of those tentative beginnings attempting to bring new order to the world. The crisis plus two wars threaten to overextend the United States as the leading economic and global peacekeeping power. There is as yet no other nation on the horizon capable of not only exercising power, but assuming responsibility for the monetary costs as well. The principle of collective leadership managed to function somewhat in London because the enormous pressure of the current problem drove the leaders together. That will most assuredly not last. And what then? Does everybody look to Washington once again?
The crisis has taught the Americans humility, and in Barack Obama they have a president who credibly embodies that virtue. It’s a good opportunity to emulate the old American traditions. Historically, it’s always been an American strength not to bark orders at others, but to rally nations together for everyone’s benefit. The Chinese, with their isolationist and nationalist elites, as are yet incapable of this, as are the Russians, whose strategic thinking is still stuck in the zero-sum games of the 19th century. They, like Brazil and India, will have their hands full for years to come with their own developmental problems. And Europe has become too old to harbor global political ambitions. Sure, America is faltering. But for lack of good alternatives, the reins of world power will continue to be held in Washington for many years to come.
CLICK HERE FOR
ORIGINAL VERSION
|
|
CLICK HERE for... 
April 10th, 2009 at 2:39 am
“Sure, America is faltering. But for lack of good alternatives, the reins of world power will continue to be held in Washington for many years to come.”
sure as long as china keeps loaning us money. they know exactly what they are doing.
americans worship at the altar of capitalism and borrow tons of money from communists to keep their capitalism and imperialism afloat and they do not see the irony in that.
we are living on borrowed money and time.
we no longer make stuff we just buy stuff with borrowed money and printed money.
this decline of wealth has been occuring for over 30 years.
we graduate more lawyers than all the world combined. lawyers do not create wealth just move it around.
the housing bubble was in reality a decline of wealth. higher home prices but same or lower incomes.
privitized health care, open borders, mega military expenses, crowed prisons, massive drug problem and an industrial military complex that now controls politicans and the mass media.
30 lobbyists for every politican in wash. make sure corp america makes profits even if need be with taxpayers money and borrowed money.
the education system self destructing and obama wants pay for performace for teachers. hey it worked well on wall street and the banks and the big three. not!
w edwards deming knew the fallacy of pay for performace americans did not.
the saving rates in america are below zero and credit card debt is beyond comprehension.
the national debt and trade inbalance is climing faster than our best fighter jets.
two unwinable wars like vietnam will bleed americans dry year after year after year after year.….….……year
many americans now want to invade iran. americans love these wars for profits.
american style of captialism was a flawed system that is running out of steam and borrowed money.
americans are being told this is just a recession and not a decline of wealth.
and we are your best hope. good luck on that one.
will we learn? yes but not until the middle class is reduced to very low levels and then the chaos.
and to think the middle class lined up to vote for reagan and those that supported reagan economics. some still do.
while you are at it check out our tent cities.