Comments on: The changing balance of global financial power

By: Los Angeles Times » Blog Archive » Ruling with one iron fist, banking the West with the other

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 00:31:58 +0000

[...] Setser at the Council on Foreign Relations has an interesting blog post on just how financially powerful the world’s autocratic regimes have become — and how much [...]

By: Autocrats offer no long-term alternative to liberal democracy | Democracy Digest

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 19:42:16 +0000

[...] this new “age of authoritarianism,” it appears that autocratic regimes increasingly finance democratic governments – and vice versa. The United States, it has been said, is borrowing money from China to buy oil [...]

By: Max Keiser Radio: Follow the Money » Blog Archive » Max Keiser on the US bombing its creditors

Sun, 24 Aug 2008 09:47:24 +0000

[...] I see that people are beginning to notice the bizarrely vicious cycle going on in the world whereby the US dollar is being propped up by foreign Central bank purchases of Treasuries and US agency debt, which America then turns into a military campaign against those nations propping up its economy: Though I guess it is equally ironic that Russian purchases of Treasuries over the past few months have helped to finance the current US aid mission to Georgia. [...]

By: Charley2u

Charley2u — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 16:47:13 +0000

“Though I guess it is equally ironic that Russian purchases of Treasuries over the past few months have helped to finance the current US aid mission to Georgia.”

I think this is on target, but misses the real insight: all US military spending since 1970 have been funded by the US trade deficit.

The fact that the source has changed is of less consequence than this fact.

The true consequence, for us, is that in the absence of such funding the vastly larger expenditures of the US versus the rest of the world on its military will have to come at the expense of domestic consumption.

By: “The changing balance of global financial power”, by Brad Setser « Fabius Maximus

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:01:33 +0000

[...] “The changing balance of global financial power“, Brad Setser, Council on Foreign Relations, 14 August 2008 — Opening: [...]

By: danieldrezner.com :: Daniel W. Drezner » Is authoritarian capitalism a successful model?

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:23:14 +0000

[...] last Friday’s Brad Setser post: Not only do we live in a new “age of authoritarianism,” but we live in a world where [...]

By: Joe H

Joe H — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:22:29 +0000

gina, I have news for you, the FIX was algore trying to steal fla by only recounting those precencts favorable to him rather than recounting the whole state of fla. It has since been proven that a recount of the WHOLE state proved GW won fla. Since the fla supremes agreed with algore’s attempt to steal fla in this manner, the US supremes was the only avenue left to save our dempcracy from the algore thievery. GW won; algore lost. GET OVER IT!!

By: Joe Hoofnagle

Joe Hoofnagle — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:15:19 +0000

This change in global financial power is a direct result of the insane US policy fir the last 30-40 years of not exploiting our natural resources (OIL) and instead, obtaining it from foreign sources by transfering OUR wealth to THEM. The environmental lobby has successded in weakening us to the point where we are now unable to defend ourselves against foreign aggression (such as 9-11). Ref the comments here about spreading democracy at the point of a byonet for example. HORSE SPIT!! Geo W was attempting to defend us against further aggresion by radical Islam by spreading democracy to them, and if we fail we die.

By: gina

gina — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:46:27 +0000

I find it almost amusing that people call GW a democratically “elected” presided . He was appointed by the supreme court (a rather unconstitutional move on their part) the first round and blatantly stole the second term. Face facts we have lost the right to call America a democracy it is a fascist state rapidly devolving into a police state

By: Glen

Glen — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 06:45:41 +0000

Brad says: i fully realize that China’s success has been linked to some forms of liberalization — and the notion that China’s economy is planned form beijing is off. but describing China as capitalist is also — in my view — an oversimplication.
——–

You are obviously right in terms of what criteria we would use to define textbook capitalist systems. Question is if those criteria are actually met, and whether ‘our’ systems are actually working like that today. I’m not so sure. Living in China, being Danish and having been everywhere in the Western world, I am convinced that I’ve never met a more naturally capitalist people than the Chinese though.

Btw. when you look at China, the current is always interesting, but as Franz correctly said, China is about long term planning – and things are looking up, however gradual and often problematic.
Napoleon adviced to let China sleep. In many ways China is only just about to wake up still, and the state investments are simply a preample to what will come when the Chinese people and companies have less constraints on them. I know its ‘off’ in terms of what you wanted to say, but I really think it is a necessary abstraction.

Rien: Very interesting comments as per usual.

Judy Yeo wrote: Not too sure if Russians or other countries, particularly in the EU see a non-authoritarian side to Putin or Chavez for that matter.

—–

The vast majority? Surely not. We have MSM too, you know… Most put the Ossetia debacle squarely on Russia and the obvious story is dismissed as the stuff of conspiracy freaks.
Again – there’s very little enviable about the Kremlin rule if you believe that Western IDEALS are basically mostly good (and I profess to do so), but that doesn’t mean that the prism most Europeans use to understand for instance Russia isn’t ideologically and historically skewed to the n’th degree.
That Russia is only – at best – quasi-democratic should be a trivial conclusion though. Politkovskaya cannot have died in vain that much.