Monday, October 14, 2013
Global Reaction to Debt Ceiling Crisis
In this article, the different reactions of many countries around the world are described. While each country has a slightly different message, the main theme is the same. The United States should work to avoid a default as it would negatively affect economies around the world. The article mentions how many country's economies are still recovering from the 2008 financial crisis and avoiding pressure from a default is critical. Diverse leaders from around the world see that a quick resolution is needed to this situation, yet American politicians still continue to argue. If steps to raise the debt ceiling, at least temporarily, are not taken soon, this article points out how the situation could have catastrophic effects not only on the economy of the United States but on that of the world as well.
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It is ridiculous how it took the House and the Senate to finally make an agreement this close to the deadline. That's as much as I can put it, simply ridiculous. Asinine, even. However, it is worth mentioning that as American citizens outside of the Washington circle, we have no idea what happened inside the negotiating room. For all we know, the Republicans could be using tactics to eventually get Obamacare eradicated. Remember what Mike Lofgren said in his chapter on tactics? What happens in Washington is one big game and each party uses different tactics to get what they want. We won't ever know what happens in the negotiating room, we can only speculate and watch the show.
ReplyDeleteIt's just embarrassing really how long it took. It's also interesting that this almost crisis was self-generated. The article mentioned how the EU is recovering from its own economic issues. I wonder how they, suffering from economic problems out of their hands, would react to news of this issue. It's amazing that we came close to such a big problem because of a hand full of irresponsible and overly ideological politicians. I hope we can learn something about how things need to run in DC. I think that representatives more committed to the national agenda than to their respective local ones would solve a lot of the dysfunction we've observed.
ReplyDeleteThis is a very intriguing article. More people around the country should read this too really know what is happening. Not only are people of the United States effected by the shutdown but many people across the globe. Our economy helps many other country's economies work. So when we don't work, not only are we being inefficient, but we are hurting an innocent citizen of Denmark. 188 countries. 188 countries are effected and needed to come together to discuss this issue. It needs to be resolved soon.
ReplyDeleteIt's clear that the U.S. is a major world power, and powerful countries have a large influence on what is happening in the world. What happened in 2008? The economy here stunk and, as a result, it affected the economy worldwide. The U.S. should seriously consider taking the advice of these other nations, otherwise this shutdown will start to affect more and more people around the globe, not just us here in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I just goggled the term debt ceiling, because although I have been hearing lots of talk about the debt ceiling crisis, I really was not sure what was being referred to. In case anyone is as confused about this as I was, a debt ceiling is "an upper limit set on the amount of money that a government may borrow". This article shows how the debt ceiling crisis not only effected our country, but how it also effected the international community. I think the fact that this was an issue of international significance made it much more important, because it means that the decisions made by the US government not only effect our countries economy, but that they also effect the global economy. When our domestic affairs impact other countries the issues should be handled more quickly and with more care.
ReplyDeleteThis goes right back to some of Mike Lofgren's points about the stagnation in Washington. I was nodding my head in agreement as I read that book, and now I'm shaking my head in disgust as we see evidence of his points played out here right in front of us. The decisions need to be made faster, and every country around us recognizes this too. Gridlock in Washington needs to stop, because it is not only hurting our own economy but is also impacting those around the world.
ReplyDeleteI think seeing what other countries think about the U.S. and what they want the U.S. to do is very interesting. I admire their courage to call out the most powerful country in the world and tell them that what they're doing is not only going to affect themselves, but impact the entire world. Like the article said, much of the world is still recovering from the 2008 financial crisis and without help from the U.S. the much of the world could re-enter the same problem. The other countries, especially China, do a great job of reminding the U.S. that its's not all about them.
ReplyDeleteIt's kind of overwhelming to think that our own economic problems here in the United States have a a direct effect on countries all around the world. Our government needs to be responsible enough to realize that they don't have an infinite amount of time to figure out how to solve every problem. The people of this country, and most other countries too, are depending on the American economy to not be in "fiscal gridlock." Obviously they are serious about the matter and China even mentions a move to a "de-Americanized world."
ReplyDeleteThis is a great article in how it gets the reader to see that this Shutdown is not a only an American problem. Our assets and debts are all interlocked with many European countries, along with China. The world economy has been slowly recovering from 2008, when stocks all around the world crashed leaving many countries economies (including ours) in shambles. If we were to ruin the progress made in these years after the economic crash, all because of the idiotic bumbling from the U.S.; specifically a few choice GOP republicans who thought it best to interrupt the nation, displacing many people with federal jobs in the process. I would be extremely pissed off with the Americans, especially if I was one of those nations who has a large take in our national debt like China, who owns the largest single portion.
ReplyDeleteThis article really made it evident to me how much influence the U.S. has on other countries. I never realized the government shutdown would effect other countries, let alone to the extent it is. Like Michaela, I wasn't exactly sure what the term "debt ceiling" was referring to. Now that I know, it makes sense to me how these economic problems are one's not only effecting our country but many other countries around the world.
ReplyDeleteI think that it is ridiculous that it took the government as long as it did to resolve this conflict, and they didn't really solve it, they just postponed it. I think that it is also really interesting that this many people are affected by the U.S.'s money. I realized before that we owe a lot of money to China, but before reading this article I hadn't considered what the consequences of us reaching the debt ceiling meant for them.
ReplyDeleteAfter I read the article, I watched the video in the middle which talked about The Deadliest Catch. Like the article, the video explained that not only the American people are being affected by the shutdown but also multiple countries around the world. When I saw the title of the video I wasn't really concerned about the delay of The Deadliest Catch. But after watching the video I realized that thousands of people are affected by just the postponing of the crab fishing season. And that is just one section of the departments that were deemed unnecessary to run while the government is shut down.
ReplyDeleteLike everyone has been saying, this perfectly illustrates everything Mike Lofgren said in his book. Like Lofgren says the republican party has stopped being "for" things and started only concerning themselves with stopping anything to do with Obama. It is pathetic that they would risk putting the entire fiscal world on the brink of collapse just to stop Obamacare!
ReplyDeleteIt is amazing (and frightening) to look back and think how close we were to a global catastrophe had the government shutdown continued. This shows how important it is for our government to function properly and come together on decisions. We don't just affect our own country, we can have the power to affect the entire world!
ReplyDeleteI found that this article shows just how ignorant and inconsiderate our politicians can be. Thanks to the incompetence of our legislature, the entire would was almost hit with another period of economic recession. It was also interesting how the article reminded us of the previous worldwide economic recession: 2008, which the US, in no small part, contributed to.
ReplyDeleteI found this article fascinating because it perfectly demonstrates how the government shutdown is not only a national crisis, but a global one. Also agree with all my peers that this article brilliantly portrays themes in Lofgren's book of how if Republicans were to stop saying "no" and being anti-everything-Obama. It also reenforced the power and influence the US has, and how we should stop making ourselves look weaker and more pathetic with this shutdown.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this article because I thought that it did a good job of stressing how much of an embarrassment our government shutdown is. Our leaders were aware of the impact our economy has on the entire world, but they still could not find a solution until the last minute. If America wants to be model country that every other nation should aspire then we cannot have failure to compromise to the point of a federal government shutdown.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading this article it makes me question even more how our government leaders let this government shutdown go on for so long. With our leaders knowledge of how negatively the shutdown would effect not only our nation's economy, but also the economies of countries around the world it illustrates how stubborn they really are. I am very discouraged after reading this article because I now realize how unwilling to compromise many of are representatives really are.
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