President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner: Are American
lawmakers living up to the advice they offer their foreign peers?
'Irresponsible' U.S. Lawmakers have
Duty to Global Economy (People's Daily, People's Republic of China)
When it comes to global leadership, do American lawmakers shun responsibilities that they lecture lawmakers in other nations about shouldering? This editorial from the state-run People's Daily criticizes American office holders and the U.S. political system for allowing partisan differences to prevent a resolution of issues like the 'fiscal cliff' and the debt ceiling..
Disappointing news continues to emerge from both sides of
the American political aisle, as the first round of "fiscal cliff"
talks have made no progress, sparking renewed concern that the country may fail
to diffuse the standoff.
According
to the IMF, of the U.S. "goes off the cliff," it will mean a
tightening of public expenditures by as much as 4 percent of GDP, which is
likely to tip the world's leading economy into another full-blown recession.
The OECD also warns that if the United States fails to avert large-scale
cutbacks, the impact on the global economy and deterioration in the eurozone will be significant.
The American fiscal impasse reflects profound differences
between the governance styles of the two parties. Objectively speaking, U.S.
politicians should understand that with their own economic recovery still
sluggish; the European debt crisis unresolved; and the global economy still
plagued by uncertainty, a new “self-inflicted” recession will seriously damage
American power - both hard and soft.
People familiar with the politics of the United States
understand the conflict of interests and ideological polarization that keep the
parties from making a deal until the last possible minute. U.S. Congress
members, who are so practiced at this political game, appear oblivious to the
impact on U.S. and global economic confidence.
"The economic confidence of both market participants
and the general public will also be influenced by the extent to which our
political system proves able to deliver a reasonable solution with a minimum of
uncertainty and delay,” U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned.
Bernanke's warning was clear: respond to the fiscal cliff
"as soon as possible." Regrettably, the characteristics of American
politics have repeatedly led to the phenomena of "political paralysis."
On major issues, the two parties tend to take starkly conflicting stances, so
many of the reforms concerning the future direction of the United States are
either difficult to implement or are dramatically limited. The standoff over
the fiscal cliff is reflective a crisis within the American political system.
The plight of the United States in the fiscal cliff, a
reflection of the plight of the American political system.
Even if, as is expected, the United States avoids falling
off the cliff, the solution will only be temporary. Once avoided, the markets
will quickly turn to the impending maxing out of the U.S. debt ceiling as the
next short-term default risk to the United States. The core of America's fiscal
problems are that the U.S. government appears unable to resolve the huge gap
between federal spending and revenue. For many years, Washington has been
stimulating the economy with deficit spending, and fiscal measures introduced
by the Obama Administration to deal with the financial crisis has worsened the
fiscal pressures facing the country. After all, market concerns about the
fiscal cliff are based on the fear that high levels of U.S. public debt are
unsustainable. In this sense, the financial cliff reflects an overdependence on
virtual economies for development and a lack of control over financial risk. Without
dealing with these, it will be fundamentally impossible to resolve the issues
at the heart of the financial cliff.
The United States is the world’s largest economy and primary
global reserve currency issuer. Yet the negative global impact of American
policy errors are all too familiar. U.S. policy makers have a duty to minimize
the negative fallout resulting from America's economic woes. Since they forever
seek to reform the international system, American policymakers should feel a
sense of responsibility. That requires them to stop partisan interests from
getting in the way of proper economic decision making and to take better account
of the interests of the American people. By building a consensus and engaging
in efforts to boost the economy, the prospects for global recovery will improve.
Posted by Worldmeets.US
The United States, which is accustomed to asking other
countries to act responsibly, should show that it too, can act as a responsible
power on issues concerning the future of the global economy.
