aimarraul
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Adapting to global clock in US interests
* Source: Global Times
* [02:35 March 18 2010]
* Comments
The world's clock has sped up: Nations around the globe are reinventing themselves at a faster and faster pace.
Unfortunately, some US politicians are still operating on their own time frame and they have fallen behind.
The latest example is that they are calling for the Obama administration to label China a currency manipulator. There is also a bill being considered in the US Senate that would seek to penalize China over the yuan.
These politicians are behind the times. They have been unable to keep up with the rapidly changing global reality. Historically, anytime there was a trade imbalance or economic downturn, some US politicians sought to blame others for the failings of the US government.
Back in the mid-1980s, the Plaza Accord, signed between Japan and the US to placate the latter's complaints about the trade deficit, forced the Japanese yen to appreciate sharply. That sent Japan's economy into a backward spin for decades. In the 1970s, the Deutsche Mark was also pushed to appreciate.
But gone are the days when US policy hardball could force others to yield.
Ironically, the measures taken by the US in these historical incidents are still hailed as the right alternatives to adopt "if sweet reason won't work," as the New York Times columnist Paul Krugman put it in his recent article titled "Taking on China."
Should those US politicians or scholars continue to live in their illusions of past glory, they will not be helping to solve any issue between China and the US, nor will they be acting in the interests of the American people.
Some basic realities need to be faced: The world has become a multilateral, globalized place where only cooperation and negotiation can get things done. Though it remains the sole superpower, the US should learn to respect other nations as equals and understand the real meaning of "We are all in the same boat."
With that scenario in mind, even if the US government does label China a currency manipulator, China does not need to dump a share of its US Treasury holdings for revenge, as expected by Krugman.
Sino-US ties are so closely intertwined that any trade war would be a loss for both sides, particularly victimizing the American people and US enterprises. After all, it is the negotiating table, not a game of hardball, that will bring progress.
The power of the US pressure should not be overestimated. With the world's clock ticking, what some US politicians need to do is to put their own economic house in order and to get synchronized with the rest of the world.
* Source: Global Times
* [02:35 March 18 2010]
* Comments
The world's clock has sped up: Nations around the globe are reinventing themselves at a faster and faster pace.
Unfortunately, some US politicians are still operating on their own time frame and they have fallen behind.
The latest example is that they are calling for the Obama administration to label China a currency manipulator. There is also a bill being considered in the US Senate that would seek to penalize China over the yuan.
These politicians are behind the times. They have been unable to keep up with the rapidly changing global reality. Historically, anytime there was a trade imbalance or economic downturn, some US politicians sought to blame others for the failings of the US government.
Back in the mid-1980s, the Plaza Accord, signed between Japan and the US to placate the latter's complaints about the trade deficit, forced the Japanese yen to appreciate sharply. That sent Japan's economy into a backward spin for decades. In the 1970s, the Deutsche Mark was also pushed to appreciate.
But gone are the days when US policy hardball could force others to yield.
Ironically, the measures taken by the US in these historical incidents are still hailed as the right alternatives to adopt "if sweet reason won't work," as the New York Times columnist Paul Krugman put it in his recent article titled "Taking on China."
Should those US politicians or scholars continue to live in their illusions of past glory, they will not be helping to solve any issue between China and the US, nor will they be acting in the interests of the American people.
Some basic realities need to be faced: The world has become a multilateral, globalized place where only cooperation and negotiation can get things done. Though it remains the sole superpower, the US should learn to respect other nations as equals and understand the real meaning of "We are all in the same boat."
With that scenario in mind, even if the US government does label China a currency manipulator, China does not need to dump a share of its US Treasury holdings for revenge, as expected by Krugman.
Sino-US ties are so closely intertwined that any trade war would be a loss for both sides, particularly victimizing the American people and US enterprises. After all, it is the negotiating table, not a game of hardball, that will bring progress.
The power of the US pressure should not be overestimated. With the world's clock ticking, what some US politicians need to do is to put their own economic house in order and to get synchronized with the rest of the world.
