Earlier this week when he was in China to "explain" the Obama Administration’s position on the US long term debt position; on the Administration’s current position thereafter the audience laughed.
The difficult notion for those of us in the US to understand is that the American press did not cover the laughter. Other than for a very cursory, one sentence, statement by The NY Times, that Mr. Geithner’s comments "elicit[ed] some laughter," little was made of the inordinately poor reception Mr. Geithner received there in Beijing. However, the international media was and is having a field day with the response he was given. The Financial Times earlier this week said that
In response to a question after his speech, Mr. Geithner told the student audience that ‘Chinese assets are very safe,’ drawing loud laughter from his student audience—a reflection of skepticism among many Chinese about the wisdom of building up large foreign reserves.
The Telegraph in London was even more severe when it said, tersely, that "US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was laughed at by an audience of Chinese students after insisting that China’s US assets are safe…. The comment provoked loud laughter from the audience…"
But the US media avoided any reporting of the laughter that greeted Mr. Geithner’s speech. None of the US television stories reported laughter; none of the US newspapers reported the laughter; none of the US magazines covering the trip reported the laughter… but the laughter was loud; it was palpable and it was very, very real. Simply put, the US fiscal circumstance has become a laughingstock, and we do not say that lightly. It is, however, true.
The utter and harsh reality of the US present fiscal circumstance is that the world is laughing at the Obama Administration’s handling of it. Mr. Geithner is the global vicar of the US fiscal policy, and never, ever in our lifetime have we seen or heard of a US Treasury Secretary being laughed at… until now. It is one thing to be derided; it is entirely another to be laughed at, and the US is now being laughed at.
The laughter, we are certain, did not come easily, for the world wanted the Obama Administration to succeed. After eight years of the Bush Administration which the world, for any number of reasons… few of which we agree with… took issue with the US, the world wanted Obama’s government to succeed and take the lead on global economic and political issues. It was prepared to give this Administration the benefit of the doubt on almost any issue; indeed, it was prepared to give this Administration the benefit of many doubts before losing its faith. That faith is now gone.
Audiences do not laugh at Treasury Secretaries readily nor easily. They are laughing readily and uneasily at the Obama Administration now, and we cannot imagine anything sadder and more disconcerting than this.
Le Metropole Cafe
______________________
I don't blame them for laughing. It's laughable what we're doing because Keynesian economics never works. China will try and is trying to free itself from the US Dollar and government debt stranglehold, and once they do, we're in big trouble. Unfortunately, even after months of it being completely obvious, the Chinese are finally realizing US economic policy is faulty.
Our media is pathetic.
The difficult notion for those of us in the US to understand is that the American press did not cover the laughter. Other than for a very cursory, one sentence, statement by The NY Times, that Mr. Geithner’s comments "elicit[ed] some laughter," little was made of the inordinately poor reception Mr. Geithner received there in Beijing. However, the international media was and is having a field day with the response he was given. The Financial Times earlier this week said that
In response to a question after his speech, Mr. Geithner told the student audience that ‘Chinese assets are very safe,’ drawing loud laughter from his student audience—a reflection of skepticism among many Chinese about the wisdom of building up large foreign reserves.
The Telegraph in London was even more severe when it said, tersely, that "US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner was laughed at by an audience of Chinese students after insisting that China’s US assets are safe…. The comment provoked loud laughter from the audience…"
But the US media avoided any reporting of the laughter that greeted Mr. Geithner’s speech. None of the US television stories reported laughter; none of the US newspapers reported the laughter; none of the US magazines covering the trip reported the laughter… but the laughter was loud; it was palpable and it was very, very real. Simply put, the US fiscal circumstance has become a laughingstock, and we do not say that lightly. It is, however, true.
The utter and harsh reality of the US present fiscal circumstance is that the world is laughing at the Obama Administration’s handling of it. Mr. Geithner is the global vicar of the US fiscal policy, and never, ever in our lifetime have we seen or heard of a US Treasury Secretary being laughed at… until now. It is one thing to be derided; it is entirely another to be laughed at, and the US is now being laughed at.
The laughter, we are certain, did not come easily, for the world wanted the Obama Administration to succeed. After eight years of the Bush Administration which the world, for any number of reasons… few of which we agree with… took issue with the US, the world wanted Obama’s government to succeed and take the lead on global economic and political issues. It was prepared to give this Administration the benefit of the doubt on almost any issue; indeed, it was prepared to give this Administration the benefit of many doubts before losing its faith. That faith is now gone.
Audiences do not laugh at Treasury Secretaries readily nor easily. They are laughing readily and uneasily at the Obama Administration now, and we cannot imagine anything sadder and more disconcerting than this.
Le Metropole Cafe
______________________
I don't blame them for laughing. It's laughable what we're doing because Keynesian economics never works. China will try and is trying to free itself from the US Dollar and government debt stranglehold, and once they do, we're in big trouble. Unfortunately, even after months of it being completely obvious, the Chinese are finally realizing US economic policy is faulty.
Our media is pathetic.
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