A Tale Of Two Cities (or Geopolitics in The Twilight Zone)
I often enjoy starting my day with a nutritional and stimulating bowl of irony. Needless to say, I am well fueled for the day ahead! Two items caught my attention that left me shaking my head just a bit.
Beijing and Washington, two cities combining for a geopolitical double take. Over the weekend, we heard word from the communist government of China that we are mismanaging our economy. Yes, you read that right. A communist country told us that we should be more responsible with our economy. Somehow the thought of communists giving us economic advice seems very much like Bob Ueker offering batting lessons. (sorry Bob)
The dreadful part of the situation is, the criticisms were not far off the mark. Liu Mingkang, chairman of the China Banking Regulatory Commission, said that a weak U.S. dollar and low U.S. interest rates had led to “massive speculation” that was inflating asset bubbles around the world. It has created “unavoidable risks for the recovery of the global economy, especially emerging economies,” Liu said.
The situation is “seriously impacting global asset prices and encouraging speculation in stock and property markets.” (credit to the WSJ for the quotations)
No doubt, a great deal of their concern stems from their reliance on our economy to prop up their own statist economy, occasional dabbling in attempted capitalism aside. Their investment in our debt and the massive trade imbalance, in their favor, is what allows the communists to appear to grow their economy.
Meanwhile, in Gotham… Or more properly Shanghai… president Obama addressed the Chinese. He used a few of those moments to advise the Chinese on free speech. He said tough criticisms of political leaders should be allowed and the free flow of information on the Internet “should be encouraged.” This while The Cybersecurity Act makes it’s way through Congress with his support.
“I’m a big supporter of non-censorship,” Obama said. “I recognize that different countries have different traditions. I can tell you that in the United States, the fact that we have free Internet—or unrestricted Internet access is a source of strength, and I think should be encouraged.” This while the Internet Freedom Preservation Act and net neutrality also pass through Congress with similar enthusiasm. The names of these bills being somewhat ironic themselves.
He tells the Chinese that he believes in free discussion because it makes him, “a better leader because it forces me to hear opinions that I don’t want to hear.” This while being quite comfortable deciding what networks his administration will not appear on and who is a “real” news operation.
On one hand, he lobbies the Chinese to be open to 1st amendment rights, while actively lobbying to further limit them at home. Perhaps these two cities will meet somewhere in the middle. I have to hope not though.
All I know is, I have a my big heaping bowl of irony to help me start my day.
