The more I’ve watched the policy unfolding in Washington DC since Trump was inaugurated, the more I have been thinking about how this might be received in Beijing.
Europe can't go back to the relationship it used to have with the USA post WWII. Since the last WWII veteran president GH Bush, the American diplomacy has consistently declined. Now a day, the Secretary of State is usually a political appointment instead of a professional appointment. The American politics is too divided for the USA to be a dependable source of military weapons and by extension ally. There is no going back for Europe once they set their sight on defense autonomy. The WWII ear leadership of the USA is over. USA is reseted. I get the sense that most country are not happy with the USD as a global currency due to the QE rounds, congress' constant debate on rather or not we should raise the debt ceiling so that we don't default, and rather or not we should defend the rule base order in the world. The USD as a global currency is one of the best thing WWII Americans left to subsequent USA citizens. The USA practically print money for the entire world yet few Americans can link the necessity to defend the global rule base order to the USD. With the USD as it is, the USA can buy anything it needs from the world in times of war and peace. I once read the English were able to match the French in battle because the English had a more efficient tax collection system. Note the France has larger land mass than England. Imagine the advantage of able to draw resource globally at well for war. Tariffs on all countries practically destroys the USD as a global currency. Kept that up and the USD will fall. Americans' want to be great without earning it. The greatest generation earned it. Our generation just want to take it. We had an opportunity to earn it in Ukraine, but did not.
Well done. I am sure the Stanford audience this evening will be interested in your thoughts on tariffs, trade and negotiating with China.
Very, very insightful and informative,
Europe can't go back to the relationship it used to have with the USA post WWII. Since the last WWII veteran president GH Bush, the American diplomacy has consistently declined. Now a day, the Secretary of State is usually a political appointment instead of a professional appointment. The American politics is too divided for the USA to be a dependable source of military weapons and by extension ally. There is no going back for Europe once they set their sight on defense autonomy. The WWII ear leadership of the USA is over. USA is reseted. I get the sense that most country are not happy with the USD as a global currency due to the QE rounds, congress' constant debate on rather or not we should raise the debt ceiling so that we don't default, and rather or not we should defend the rule base order in the world. The USD as a global currency is one of the best thing WWII Americans left to subsequent USA citizens. The USA practically print money for the entire world yet few Americans can link the necessity to defend the global rule base order to the USD. With the USD as it is, the USA can buy anything it needs from the world in times of war and peace. I once read the English were able to match the French in battle because the English had a more efficient tax collection system. Note the France has larger land mass than England. Imagine the advantage of able to draw resource globally at well for war. Tariffs on all countries practically destroys the USD as a global currency. Kept that up and the USD will fall. Americans' want to be great without earning it. The greatest generation earned it. Our generation just want to take it. We had an opportunity to earn it in Ukraine, but did not.
Thanks Ken. Another straight talk and common sense that seems to be lacking among many.