Obama seeks to hitch U.S. economy to Asian growth

[Dover]

Source: Reuters


Barack Obama is launching a charm offensive this week to hitch the U.S. economy to opportunities in Asia he hopes can help power the recovery he needs for re-election.

Obama, who was born in Hawaii and spent part of his childhood in Indonesia, will host leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, including Chinese President Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda, in Honolulu this weekend to seek to improve trade ties across the region.

He will then travel to Australia to announce plans to boost the U.S. military presence in the region and will be the first American president to attend the East Asia Summit in Bali, where he will heap attention on the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia as well as India.

The campaign to cozy up to Asian powers large and small comes at a critical moment for the U.S. economy, whose recovery is at risk because of a spiraling debt crisis in Europe that dominated a summit of Group of 20 leaders in France last week.






Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/12/us-apec-obama-f-idUSTRE7AA2GQ20111112

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Executives from companies such as Boeing, Caterpillar, General Electric and Time Warner Cable are also attending APEC...to help Obama make the case that closer ties with Asia will help create U.S. jobs.

[Owlet]

1. Good luck with that

[Philosopher King]

2. "He will then travel to Australia to announce plans to boost U.S. military presence in the region"

Makes sense to me...we spent billions to build up and then close down Clark AFB and U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay. However, we haven't wasted, uh I mean, invested in the region for quite some time now. I applaud Obama for recognizing the need flex our muscles by building it all back up again.

Now we know why he wants to tax the rich (to grow some bigger feet).

[fasttense]

3. NO, the idle rich have created NO JOBS, NO growing economy.

NO decent recovery. The idle rich have done absolutely NOTHING but enrich themselves at the expense of the working class for the last 30 years. That is why Obama wants to raise the lazy greedy banksters taxes.

At least raise their taxes high enough to pay back the bailouts we working class gave them.

[Philosopher King]

17. I'd rather let the rich keep their money than enlarge our military footprint.

[madrchsod]

4. i remember when we were the leader...

the rise and fall of the american empire.

[KoKo]

5. The only thing we can export to them is military equipment, drones, etc.

We make very little here that they would want to buy, otherwise. I imagine he will pick up some big campaign donations on this trip, also. Apparently it's not illegal anymore to have "foreign companies" donate to our elected officials.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

7. Check out some of the trade agreements...

... I was looking around the other day and came across this:

"Israel runs into trouble in pantyhose industry"
<snip>
Because of the free-trade agreement, an American company that imports Israeli yarn pays no tariffs and counts the product as American under trade laws. Even though the pantyhose are made outside the United States, the finished product returns to America without facing tariffs or quotas.
<snip>

<http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/11614/israel-runs-into-trouble-in-pantyhose-industry/>

So perhaps he is seeking such deals, we get the credit, tarifs, etc, while Israel makes the nylon yarn used in who knows where, to make garments/stockings with US labels on them. Hey, the cold season is coming!

So the way I see it, those that do not wear socks, stockings or pantyhose are unAmerican. :sarcasm:

[newspeak]

12. yeah, went to buy my puppy some jerky chews

big letters on package states "american company", then on the back in small letters reads "made in china."

[KoKo]

16. omg....well that's a new one. I've gotta read even more carefully these days...

I'm starting to see these little American Flags on items. I need to focus on the "fine print below."

:-( Thanks for head up on this.

[KoKo]

14. Good points...and thanks for the info about this. +!..

[RickFromMN]

6. How does this help keep jobs home when corporations love outsourcing?

People who are out of work or under worked don't have the money to buy products.
People who are afraid of losing their job don't want to spend.

Increasing the "pie" increases the pie for the top 1%. How do the rest of us benefit?

[Iliyah]

8. For crying out loud

O is trying to create more jobs in the US cause the congress refuse to do so.

[KoKo]

15. But what JOBS will come out of "Asian Rim" trade agreements? What could we export to them

except Military and Genetically Modified Seeds and Big Pharma Expensive drugs?

:shrug:

Please...tell me what they would want that we could export to them? :shrug:

[Octafish]

9. That's what ex-Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm did.

Didn't work then, either.

Hint: What's needed is an American industrial revitalization.

[Vincardog]

10. What is needed now is a return to the American way. Tariffs to support Local industries

taxes on the rich to encourage the to grow their business instead of their portfolio
Free education for everyone
A FED that has FULL employment as its' primary objective

PLUS Public financing of elections to remove the corrosive influence of MONEY form our Government and
Universal health CARE as a human right

[pampango]

11. Poll: Americans view China as an economic threat, Europeans view it as an economic opportunity.

Marking a reverse from last year, the plurality of EU respondents thought of China as more of an economic opportunity (46%) than an economic threat (41%) (see chart 11). Last year, only 39% viewed China as an economic opportunity. This year, majorities in the Netherlands (67%), Sweden (65%), the U.K. (58%), and Germany (57%) as well as around half of the population in Bulgaria (49%) and Romania (51%) considered China an economic opportunity. At the same time, majorities in the United States (63%), France (56%), and Portugal (54%) viewed China as more of an economic threat than an opportunity.

http://www.gmfus.org/publications_/TT/TT2011_final_web.pdf (from page 17)

[Phlem]

13. interesting stats

seems like manufacturing companies see China as an opportunity and the non manufacturing countries see's it as a threat.

I'm broad brushing here but I just thought it was interesting connection.

-p