President Obama fails to deliver at the G-20 in Seoul
Posted on November 12, 2010
by dancingczars
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by Jim Campbell
A weakened President Obama is incapable of delivering meaningful trade agreements at the G-20
The Politico reported today, President Barack Obama, weakened at home by a disastrous mid-term election. Headline: President Obama can’t close deals at G-20 summit.
President Obama walks away from the G-20 with few in any Accomplishments.
President Barack Obama failed to reach agreement on two international deals to help spur the U.S. economy, unexpected setbacks on an Asia trip that was supposed to emphasize his stature abroad and change the subject from last week’s electoral drubbing.
Obama has seen his presence on the world stage diminished as well.
President Barack Obama failed to reach agreement on two international deals to help spur the U.S. economy, unexpected setbacks on an Asia trip that was supposed to emphasize his stature abroad and change the subject from last week’s electoral drubbing
The President failed to achieve trade deals with three of American’s important trading partners: South Korea, China and Germany.
President Barack Obama failed to reach agreement on two international deals to help spur the U.S. economy, unexpected setbacks on an Asia trip that was supposed to emphasize his stature abroad and change the subject from last week’s electoral drubbing.
Obama was unable to achieve a free trade agreement with South Korea, vowing to keep talking to get a better deal for U.S. automakers.
An absolutely heart warming thought when one considers the effectiveness of his talking with Iran and his failure to stop their nuclear program.
After meeting with the leaders of Germany and China, he continued to meet resistance from the two countries about reducing their trade surpluses with the U.S.
President Obama hoped to give a boost to American manufacturing, putting the best face on a compromise that only calls for the goal of lowering them.
“I think that you will see at this summit a broad-based agreement from all countries, including Germany, that we need to ensure balanced and sustainable growth,” Obama said after his meetings, using the kind of optimistic language leaders always use about summits, whatever the conflicts.
“If we rush something that then can’t garner popular support, that’s going to be a problem,” Obama said. “We think we can make the case, but we want to make sure that case is air tight.”
By now the reader must understand the sounds of empty rhetoric. To be sure, words have meaning, President Obama’s didn’t.
The leaders of the world’s top 20 economies have agreed to strive for currency exchange rates that are determined by market forces. And they plan to create a system to identify economic imbalances that threaten economic stability.
Agreed to try and plan? The word try implies probable failure.
At the summit’s close on Friday, South Korean president Lee Myung-bak acknowledged that it was difficult to agree on the most contentious issues, exchange rate policies and trade imbalances among key economies.
With the U.S. dollar seemingly in free fall as Bernanke plays Russian roulette monetizing U.S. debt is there any wonder? The term used is quantitave easing which is no more than cheating.
It’s as though Bernanke reaches under the Monoply board, pulls out an additional $600 billion to prop up the dollar while hoping nobody notices.
This plan is not working. Investors across the globe are flocking out of the U.S. dollar and into safe investments such as gold and silver. On Monday, gold closed at an all-time record high of $1,403.20 an ounce on the New York Mercantile Exchange, and silver closed at a 30-year high of $27.43 an ounce.
President Lee says the summit achieved meaningful results, with the biggest accomplishment being the spirit of international cooperation.
The spirit of international cooperation? Forget about the spirit, leave that for high school football games. How about some signed agreements?
British Prime Minister, David Cameron echoed that sentiment, saying because the leaders gather in one place it compels them to make decisions to help the world, not just their own economies.
Another empty platitude, they met in one place what was actually accomplished?
The leaders of the 20 biggest economies pledged to refrain from competitive currency devaluations. They also urged advanced economies, especially those with reserve currencies, to be vigilant against excess volatility and disorderly movements.
President Obama had to have his game face on for this pledge as the Federal Reserve, in a dramatic effort to rev up a “disappointingly slow” economic recovery, said it will buy $600 billion of U.S. government bonds over the next eight months to drive down interest rates and encourage more borrowing and growth.
They rejected the idea of setting numerical targets for national trade balances. The United States and South Korea favored the idea, but others, including China, Germany and Japan, opposed it.
South Korea favors the idea? As Jake Tapper reported, Due to an avalanche of taxes and other customs rules and regulations, US automakers exported just 6,140 vehicles to South Korea in 2009, according to the Korea Herald. That same year, Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia sold 735,000 cars and light trucks to American consumers.
South Korea has shut its doors to U.S. cattle ranchers, importing no U.S. beef. The failure to reach an agreement was not unexpected, negotiators didn’t even focus on beef exports, the disagreements are seemingly so irreconcilable at this time, but the news was a disappointment for President Obama and his team.
“It’s puzzling to me that the reporting is all talking about conflict when the communiqué actually reflects a hard-won consensus that the world’s 20 largest economies signed up for,” Obama said.
Just what would those be Mr. President?
Obama acknowledged that while the agreement does not have enforcement powers it does give G20 members the ability to apply peer pressure if some countries are perceived as engaging in unfair trade practices.
More smoke and mirrors from the teleprompter?
The president also reiterated that China’s currency is undervalued, a problem he said cannot be solved overnight but “needs to be dealt with.” However, the summit statement did not include an explicit position on China’s Yuan.
Has Barack Hussein Obama become the Rodney Dangerfield of U.S. Presidents?
What can be concluded from this lack luster performance? The world leaders on global economic issues view President Barack Hussein Obama as a paper tiger, much the same as Iran, North Korea, China, and now Venezuela view him concerning matters of U.S. security as the President who talks softly and has no stick,
I’m J.C. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
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