August 22, 2005
Economics
A lot of so-called common knowledge remains altogether uncommon to me. Take economics.
It was reported recently that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warned that China must make significant structural changes in its economic policies, lest it remain “a problem for the international economy.” Her unusually sharp criticism was a clear indication of the administration’s ambivalence and frustration with China.
I’ve also learned that China is reported to be a major bankroller of the US&A and keeps on buying our treasury notes or whatever they’re called. Then we take the money and spend it all struggling against extremists running up the “extremest” debt in our entire history leaving us with hardly any treasure at all, except maybe a lot real estate, if it’s not already obligated as collateral somewhere else.
Do you suppose this could be one of the investment policies that cause the administration’s ambivalence over China being “a problem for the international economy”? If we continue to be so discomposed, maybe we might adapt Groucho Marx’s famous counsel and send the Chinese a diplomatic communiqué asking them please to accept our resignation. Surely we don’t want to belong to any such international economy that would accept us as a member.