China Blasts US Over Credit Rating
This
story is interesting for the fascinating issues it raises about the
nature of addiction. What does it mean for China to declare the US
addicted to debt? Is it a genuine effort to convince a neighboring
country to make better choices? Or is it an attempt to make the American
government seem immature and irresponsible?
Given the
political climate, with so many formerly powerful and prominent Western
nations now going through tremendous financial hardships, does this
feel like an attempt to assert more power for the Chinese government? Or
is it a terrible mistake to believe that this must be about one country
trying to one-up America despite the fact that it would seem to be
fairly sound advice?
Does it mean something different
when foreign politicians tell us we are addicted to debt as opposed to
when the message comes from domestic politicians? How does declaring
American "addicted to" debt help China ease into the case for replacing
the dollar as the world's reserve currency? What else might China (or
any other political entity for that matter) feel compelled to do to deal
with the problem of debt addiction?
I think China telling the US that we are immature and irresponsible. Seeing as how we are a democratic capitalist nation and they are a communist nation any chance they could get to put down the US I think they would take. I believe China is trying to assert itself as the most powerful country in the world. Most countries depend on China for their imports and cheap labor. I think it means more when another country is telling the US that we are addicted to keeping our debt. When someone you know well tells you something you don't always listen to them but when a stranger tells you the same thing you might because they are new and might know more than you. China declaring the US being addicted to debt is trying to open the world's eyes to out financial problem. How could our dollar be the world's reserve currency when we can't manage our debt? I think China is trying to force the US out as the top nation in the world.
ReplyDeleteFrom my point of view, I think China wants its neighboring country to make a “better” choice which China can get benefit form it. I don’t think China want to be the most powerful country in the world, Since China is just a developing country with imbalance development. In China, it is widely accepted that some regions are pretty rich such as Shanghai; however, for more than one half of the regions of China, especially in northwest of China, people suffered from difficulties because of less development of those regions. Chinese government recognized this thing, so Chinese government paid attention on development in science and technology of poor regions rather than be the top of the world. I think Chinese feel like to assert more power rather than trying to one-up America. Asserting more power is a common thing for each country since each country seeks ways of development. I think it is also impossible for China to replace dollar as the world’s reserve currency since US is the leader of the world, and Chinese currency still rises against dollar.
ReplyDeleteI think that China is not trying to make the U.S. look bad by saying we are addicted to debt. They are simply just showing that we need to change our borrowing ways in order to regain our place in the world as a superpower. Even though China is a communist country, the tension between the United States and communist countries is not nearly as high as it was during the Cold War. For this reason I don't think that China is trying to boast about their economy and are trying to make the U.S. look bad but are rather trying to help a country that they think needs their help. They are trying to show us that if we keep borrowing then our dollar will keep getting weaker, we need to stop this addiction to debt.
ReplyDeleteThis is an attempt on China's part to portray the American government as immature and irresponsible. China sees the Standard & Poor's downgrade of the U.S. credit rating as a vulnerable point of attack on the American government. From the comments, through the state-run news agency, China wants to depict itself as a better country in terms of foreign policies and social welfare. It seems like China is telling its citizens that it's good that China is not very involved with foreign countries and does not have a social welfare program. China is suggesting that if the Chinese government were like the American government, they would also be in a budget deficit. I don't see this as China trying to one-up the Unites States; China is trying to justify the way the country is being run. It is tough for China to be the most powerful country in the world with its socioeconomic variances. China depends on other countries as much as other countries depend on them; China needs trading partners to export the vast amount of products made in China. China has its own "addiction" in buying U.S. debt. For China, the largest holder of U.S. debt, to say the American government is addicted to debt is simply ironic.
ReplyDeleteChina is essentially staging an intervention for the United States except on a much larger scale, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem. Though it has become evident that the United States has no plans to cut spending or even coming to agreements in congress. The super committee is a perfect example of how congress has too much infighting. They were given a simple task of to extend tax cuts for the middle class but they could not get over their differences and they failed to come to an agreement. It is clear that the American government is incredible immature.
ReplyDeleteThere is some political play from that statement but of course China does not want to see their main investment go bankrupt. They are going to do what they have to do in order to make sure that they get their money back from the United States.
I feel if China truly wants to send a message to the United States then they will not allow us to borrow any more money from them. Even though that would be a disaster for economy it may be the incentive the United States needs to change our spending habits.
In my mind, for China to declare the US addicted to debt means that China believes the US needs to correct the dysfunctional and unhealthy nature that is the national economy. I believe China‘s statement to be a negative reinforcement attempt to convince and signal warning to the US government. China may be simply asking for the US to fix the debt and political issues that are damaging not only the state of the economy, but the reputation of the US as a figure of world leadership. I’m not sure if it is sound to make any assumptions about the Chinese government trying to assert more power to itself, however; the way in which this article is written certainly contributes to that very assumption. In my opinion many of the statements made concerning the vulnerability of the US economy, political system, and world reputation do have a reasonable basis. Would one really expect China to stand by and continue to blindly lend money to a country that continually increases its own debt? It may be one thing for domestic politicians to voice opinions on US debt addiction, but when both foreign and domestic entities declare the US addicted to debt alongside each other, the US should perhaps start listening more carefully. I usually find that others won’t voice ambitious statements without some substantial reason. China labeling the US as an addict most certainly eases Chinas case for suggesting a replacement for the Dollar as the world’s currency reserve. I suppose addiction is comparable to a disability or sign of weakness; for china to use addiction as a label for the US definitely weakens the US’s reputation as an all-powerful and stable leader. In order to deal with debt addiction China could feel compelled to fix the problem by refusing to fuel the addiction itself. In that case the addiction would not survive, however, inflect many consequences.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how to start a new post but this is a link of the article for the blog this week:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.newsdesk.umd.edu/sociss/release.cfm?ArticleID=2144
This article is about a study at the University of Maryland where students had to give up social media for 24 hours. I believe some of us can relate to the students in the study.