Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Robert E. Rubin co-wrote an article for the June issue of The Atlantic titled (in the print edition), “The Blame Trap,” and subtitled, “Why the U.S. and China need to act on each other’s economic critiques.”
Paulson and Rubin were Secretaries of the Treasury under George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, respectively. Collectively they are nitwits.
The following is a verbatim transcription of the first two paragraphs and the conclusion of their article, except the date has been altered from June 2015 to December 6, 1941, the phrases “cyber-hacking” and “intellectual property” have been changed to avoid anachronism and a substitution has been made of the name of one nation for the name of another nation that is nearby and, 74 years ago, had a similar form of government and a comparable foreign policy:
The relationship between the United States and Japan involves cooperation and competition, but recently the latter has received more attention. Much of the mistrust between the two countries has its roots in geo-political tensions – Japan’s assertive behavior in the East and South China Seas, for instance, or U.S. naval surveillance off Japan’s coasts. But economic tensions have played a large role as well.
Discussions of the U.S.-Japan economic relationship to often begin with a recital of each country’s grievances against the other. The usual litany of American criticisms includes Japan’s management of its exchange rate, subsidies that benefit state-owned enterprises, and barriers to American companies seeking to operate in Japan. Another prominent critique involves Japanese industrial spying on U.S. businesses’ trade secrets, and Japan’s failure to protect patent rights more generally…
Arguably, the best hope for effective transnational action on many of the world’s thorniest problems lies in the cooperation of these two countries. For that to happen, perhaps the most crucial challenge will be to first look within.
