Although China is often said to lack “soft power,” many of its ideas on economics and governance are coming into ascendance. Indeed, in pursuit of national economic stability, the Obama administration is clearly moving towards the kind of government intervention that China has been promoting over the past two decades.
BRUSSELS – President Barack Obama’s first appearances outside North America – in London, Strasbourg, Prague, and Istanbul – galvanized world attention. But what that trip singularly failed to do was paper over a startling fact: the “Washington Consensus” about how the global economy should be run is now a thing of the past. The question now is what is likely to replace it.
Although China is often said to lack “soft power,” many of its ideas on economics and governance are coming into ascendance. Indeed, in pursuit of national economic stability, the Obama administration is clearly moving towards the kind of government intervention that China has been promoting over the past two decades.
In this model, the government, while continuing to benefit from the international market, retains power over the economy’s “commanding heights” through strict control over the financial sector, restrictive government procurement policies, guidance for research and development in the energy sector, and selective curbs on imports of goods and services. All these factors are not only part of China’s economic rescue package, but of Obama’s stimulus plan as well.
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When a bank fails in the United States, questions about who is to blame are often directed at many different regulatory agencies, because the system is complex and hard for outsiders to understand. In the wake of the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, the case for an overhaul could not be stronger.
laments that the post-2008 Dodd-Frank reforms left in place a framework riddled with structural shortcomings.
The failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank are significant market events. But, given an overheated labor market and 1970s-like inflation, if the Fed cannot see the whites of the eyes of a systemic banking crisis, then it must move aggressively on the inflation front.
urges the US central bank to continue raising interest rates, despite signs of financial-sector fragility.
Richard Haass
explains what caused the Ukraine war, urges the West to scrutinize its economic dependence on China, proposes ways to reverse the dangerous deterioration of democracy in America, and more.
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BRUSSELS – President Barack Obama’s first appearances outside North America – in London, Strasbourg, Prague, and Istanbul – galvanized world attention. But what that trip singularly failed to do was paper over a startling fact: the “Washington Consensus” about how the global economy should be run is now a thing of the past. The question now is what is likely to replace it.
Although China is often said to lack “soft power,” many of its ideas on economics and governance are coming into ascendance. Indeed, in pursuit of national economic stability, the Obama administration is clearly moving towards the kind of government intervention that China has been promoting over the past two decades.
In this model, the government, while continuing to benefit from the international market, retains power over the economy’s “commanding heights” through strict control over the financial sector, restrictive government procurement policies, guidance for research and development in the energy sector, and selective curbs on imports of goods and services. All these factors are not only part of China’s economic rescue package, but of Obama’s stimulus plan as well.
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