In one-on-one meetings with the heads of the U.S.'s biggest nemeses on trade issues at a Group of 20 economic powers meeting in Seoul, President Obama pressed his case for trying to curb ballooning trade deficits and surpluses to help prevent another financial collapse like the one that toppled the world economy in 2008.
But Mrs. Merkel shut the door on any concrete commitment from Europe's export engine to limit its large trade surpluses to 4 percent of economic output — a proposal floated by the U.S. in behind-the-scenes negotiations.
"To set political limits on trade surpluses and deficits is neither economically justified nor politically appropriate," the German leader told a G-20 business summit.
At her meeting with Mr. Obama, the German leader repeated concerns about the Federal Reserve's controversial decision last week to buy $900 billion of U.S. Treasury debt in the next six months. European officials worry the move will provoke a round of inflation and destructive currency devaluations.
It's bad enough he has been a failure in the U.S. now he's going abroad !
ReplyDeletethe world is laughing at this once great nation. we used to lead now we beg. this child is a disgrace
ReplyDelete10:09 how about we take a morning to put away the anti-Obama vitriol and look at this from the real world perspective. How did we allow our trade deficit to get to this point in the first place? Why do politicians continue to try to promote a consumer-based economy in the US as opposed to an export-based system? These are not things that came about with Obama but factors which have been building for over a decade. Now our hands are tied.
ReplyDeleteits real bad when the leader of a socialist country like germany tells you your too radical
ReplyDelete10:20 the trade deficite is that way because of tariffs/unions, not just ours but other countries. harley is opening an assembly plant in india to get around it, will lower tarrifs by 80%
ReplyDeletehow can countries produce things, send them here to sell and still be cheaper with the tariffs?
2 words - UNION LABOR
10:20 How narrow sighted you are this has been the progressives plan for the last hundred years.
ReplyDelete1040-Not only union labor, but insanely high corporate tax rates. In the US we have a 35% corporate tax rate, in Canada they have an 18% rate. Kind of a simple question of where to open a business, especially with NAFTA in place. We are taxing ourselves out of competitiveness, and lump laughable union rates/regs on top of that...businesses go elsewhere and prosper.
ReplyDeleteI was reading too fast and thought it said Obama's PLANE was shot down.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it clear by noe, N-O-B-O-D-Y respects this imbecile, neither here nor abroad. If he really loves this country, as he says he does everytime an election rolls around, he'll do what's best and step down from a position he never was qualified for.
ReplyDeleteRemember for the future everyone, every time you hear the words hope and change from a liberal this is what you get.
notice its the guys deepest in debt trying to beg to forgive debts? wow were getting pathetic (our leader anyway).
ReplyDeleteIt was Obama's grand plan, that being in severe debt, with a currency going downhill fast, and banks and real estate on the verge of collapse (regardless of how we arrived at that point), we could just print as much money as we needed, BORROW hundreds of billions of dollars from anyone we could convince to do it, and write 2 trillion dollars in bad checks in order to escape from this mess. Having NO experience in economics, business, or finance (other than asking the government for "grants"), the Obama plan sounded good...to him. NOW, no one wants to lend us money, our currency value is dropping like a stone in a lake, we have to buy OUR OWN BONDS (because no one else will!) and the whole world is laughing at us and taking bets on how soon we will just implode. This house of cards is on fire and about to collapse. Buy guns and ammo. Stock food and water. Its THAT serious, folks.
ReplyDeleteIf we have to tighten our belt I hate to say but we need to cut earthquake, Tsunami/disaster aid to foreign countries until we begin to address our own disaster right here at home.
ReplyDeleteKatrina victims are still waiting.
well Imclain since you failed to notice that the current debt problem has been ongoing for more than a decade, I left wondering why would anyone trust your judgement going forward.
ReplyDelete