The Bully in the White House
by John Lawrence, January 8, 2020
One man has infinitely more power than any other individual in the whole world, and that man is Donald Trump, a narcissistic egomaniac whom the American people have entrusted with the fate of their country. His idea of America First is to bully other countries, friends and foes alike, into doing what he wants them to do which usually has more to do with his pet peeves than any notion of what would make the world a better place, much less in what might keep America safe. He is losing America;'s place as a trusted moral leader with the result that America is becoming a pariah if not a laughing stock among the world's leaders. Here's a guy with no governmental, much less diplomatic, experience whose idea of America first is America uber alles. America will tell the rest of the world how they can best serve America, and, if they don't like it, Trump will apply sanctions.
The predictable result is, whereas in the past the dollar was the most trusted currency in the world where everybody wanted to stash their savings, the dollar is rapidly being downgraded to a currency that has been weaponized, a currency used to sanction and intimidate individuals, businesses and nations alike. Other nations are beating a hasty retreat from the use of the dollar in doing business. Trump has used dollar sanctions to force regime change although it hasn't worked so far. He has used it to prevent a pipeline from being built between Russia and Germany although that won't stop the pipeline from being completed.
Trump has systematically ramped up pressure on Iran. Starting by withdrawing from the nuclear agreement followed by increasing sanctions followed by assassinating a beloved public figure, Trump has brought the US to the brink of another war in the Middle East. Iran, evidently, won't be cowed into submission by Trump's bullying tactics, but then those tactics have been used by other Republican Presidents and their neocon advisors for years with the result that the world has become a more dangerous and less safe place not only for Americans but for American allies, who are about at their wits' ends with him, as well.
While millions languish in refugee camps as a result of America's Middle East wars which have accomplished nothing except to give the military a workout, we are seeing more billions of dollars flushed down the drain to support those in the military-industrial complex who profit from war. Without a permanent war time economy, unemployment would soar as it did in the 1990s after the end of the Cold War when many employees of the aerospace corporations were laid off especially in southern California. But the US is flirting with economic disaster by taking on more debt each year at a time when the rest of the world is losing their appetite for US Treasuries. The Federal Reserve has come to the rescue by taking a large proportion of this debt onto its balance sheet signaling that they will be the buyer of last resort.
This is a remarkable solution since the Federal Reserve is keeping the economy afloat by printing money, and they've found out that, as long as they give this money to Wall Street and not to ordinary working people, this doesn't produce inflation. It just increases asset prices, namely, real estate and the stock market. This increases the wealth not only of the billionaire class but also of anyone owning a home or anyone who has a 401k from their job. It's the perfect solution because it can go on forever supposedly. It affects adversely poor people who find rents skyrocketing and who are not invested in a 401k, but the majority of the population, at least the voting majority, is probably pretty pleased with the performance of the economy as their wealth increases despite the increasing inequality gap between the very rich and the very poor. So money can continue to pour into the military-industrial complex producing a full employment economy with increasing GDP.
Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker said famously that it was the job of the Fed to take away the punch bowl just as the party started to heat up because this caused inflation. But there is no inflation in the US now so it's the best of both worlds: the Fed just keeps adding punch to the punch bowl and many Americans - except the poor - are partying heartily.
