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| The "Blame America" Fest: - 2005 World Econonic Forum |
| 2005-01-28 |
| The annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland has traditionally been a place for big thinkers to discuss big concepts--and this year was no exception. Yet this year, underlying it all was the sense that many, if not most, of the bad ideas come from America. This sentiment revealed itself, for instance, in a discussion of "Brand America." Richard Edelman, chief executive officer of the eponymous public-relations firm, noted that a "profound trust gap" exists for American corporations in Europe. His study showed dissatisfaction among Europeans with U.S. business values. Even the British--surely the most culturally compatible of all Europeans--said they were uncomfortable with the idea of working for a U.S. company. American leadership was also found lacking in a slew of economic and political issues. The shrinking dollar, a source of great difficulty for European and Canadian businesses, is the result of a vanishingly-low U.S. personal-savings rate, as well as the government's seeming inability to reduce the enormous federal budget. Furthermore, America's misguided policies in Iraq were said to have led to greater violence, danger and global uncertainty. Global poverty also is caused by America's refusal to allocate more money to foreign aid. Gee, thanks Billary, didn't you make a few bucks off your phoney book deal. You wanna pitch in a few bucks? Even Bill Clinton, as much of a rock star in Davos as U2's , with whom he shared a stage, told a crowd that the U.S. could do much more. "Let's get real," the former president said. "The President just asked Congress for $80 billion for one year in Iraq. For a pittance, we could double America's [foreign aid] contribution, and it would be cheap." America even took the blame for bad weather--it being axiomatic that global warming is the result of America's refusal to sign the Kyoto accords limiting carbon emissions. U.S. political leaders did little to help their cause. In a research note published Jan. 28 from Switzerland, Morgan Stanley (nyse: MWD - news - people ) Chief Economist Stephen Roach noted that Davos is, understandably, a Euro-centric event, yet "all the various constituencies of globalization are well represented"--with one big exception. "The Bush Administration--whose delegations in the last two years were headed by Secretary of State Colin Powell and Vice President Dick Cheney--is almost nowhere to be seen. That didn't sit too well with this crowd of internationalists, especially those attending the numerous sessions on American leadership." So what do participants at WEF want from America? More money, certainly, to alleviate all forms of suffering. But, above all, the recognition that, as the sole superpower with the world's largest economy, the U.S. bears a primary responsibility for engaging with allies to solve the planet's economic and political problems. In a speech, Tony Blair, prime minister of the United Kingdom, put it this way: "If America wants the rest of the world to be part of the agenda it has set, it must be part of their agenda, too. It can do so, secure in the knowledge that what people want is not for America to concede, but to engage." I wonder if this is the kind "world" we want to integrate with? |
| Posted by:Duke Nukem |