Sunday, December 07, 2008

Obama and his Chinese Creditors

... don't seem to be seeing eye-to-eye.

Obama:
Obama, who takes office Jan. 20, said his advisers are still working to determine the size of the economic stimulus package needed to pull the country out of the longest recession since 1982. “But it is going to be substantial,” he said, without giving an estimate.

While calling the federal budget deficit he will inherit “enormous,” Obama said economic recovery is more important, “and that means that we can’t worry, short term, about the budget deficit.”

Obama yesterday outlined an economic program focused on spending on public projects that he said would be the biggest such investment in the nation’s infrastructure since the Eisenhower administration.
The Chinese:
“We hope that the U.S. can take all necessary measures to stabilize its financial markets and economy as soon as possible and ensure the safety of China’s assets and investments in the U.S.,” Wang said. “To work together to tackle the financial crisis is the most pressing task that we are facing.”

Zhou urged the U.S. to increase savings, after excessive consumption and debt helped to trigger the crisis.
Emphasis mine. The Chinese are starting to wonder if the US was such a great investment after all.

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