And then there were six :(

The unraveling of the liberal democratic world order is tragically surreal.   

Pause and think about this for a while. The US President treating the six closest economic and military allies as enemies, while talking up North Korea?

I am shocked, not at trump though.  Because, this is exactly what trump spoke about over and over and over in his obnoxious campaign.  Like in this speech about trade, back in June 2016--well before the November elections:

America has lost nearly one-third of its manufacturing jobs since 1997 - even as the country has increased its population by 50 million people.
At the center of this catastrophe are two trade deals pushed by Bill and Hillary Clinton. First, the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA.  Second, China's entry into the World Trade Organization.
NAFTA was the worst trade deal in history, and China's entrance into the World Trade Organization has enabled the greatest jobs theft in history.
It was Bill Clinton who signed NAFTA in 1993, and Hillary Clinton who supported it.
It was also Bill Clinton who lobbied for China's disastrous entry into the World Trade Organization, and Hillary Clinton who backed that terrible agreement.

If you didn't take his words seriously and literally, then you were in some parallel universe!  He is now fulfilling his campaign promise to tear all the trade deals to pieces.

I am shocked that the "principled" Republicans, including many whom I used to know, voted for trump.  They used to talk principles of free market and world trade and more.  trump became quite a test of the character of the 63 million voters, and boy have they revealed to us who they really are!

The President of France tweets:

At the G-7, the six have pretty much booted the US out!  

The US President has turned six of America's closest allies against him.  Are you happy now, you 63 million voters?

And, would you have ever imagined such a headline? Ever?

Or this headline:

63 million voters for this guy, who is doing exactly all the crazy things that he said he would do.  Are you happy now?

Well, I bet they are absolutely excited.  So much so that even the guy who once correctly described trump as a con man only to later eat crow with him, is now confident and happy that trump will easily win a second term.

Maybe in his second term, trump will formally withdraw from G7 and form a competing G3 with Russia and China, and complete the annihilation of the liberal democratic framework.  All thanks to 63 million voters!  Gob bless America, indeed!

"Adrift" is the word. Not Grease!

First it was the academe that was characterized as being adrift.
Now, Nouriel "Dr. Doom" Roubini says the world is adrift:

We live in a world where, in theory, global economic and political governance is in the hands of the G-20. In practice, however, there is no global leadership. And there is severe disarray and disagreement among G-20 members about monetary and fiscal policy, exchange rates and global imbalances, climate change, trade, financial stability, the international monetary system, and energy, food, and global security. ...
A G-Zero world without leadership and multilateral cooperation is an unstable equilibrium for global economic prosperity and security.

So, why this state of a world that is adrift?  Roubini has a few reasons; I like this one the best of 'em all:

G-8 leaders share a basic belief in the power of free markets to generate long-term prosperity and in the importance of democracy for political stability and social justice. The G-20, on the other hand, includes autocratic governments with different views about the role of the state in the economy, and on the rule of law, property rights, transparency, and freedom of speech.

Ok, so, does this mean that we are screwed?  Hey, Dr. Doom, you are usually way more cut and dried than this ... You are leaving it to me to conclude that we are screwed?

The meaningless G8 summits

FT's Gideon Rachman writes in his blog about the generic column that his colleague Alan Beattie forwarded to him. It is awesome. All one needs to do is make appropriate substitutions for the name of the international gathering and other related stuff, and, voila, the news report. What a pathetic joke these summits have become. When will the media call this bluff?

G5 to G8: get off our backs!

This BBC report says it all:
"Mexico, Brazil, China, India and South Africa challenged the Group of Eight countries to cut their greenhouse gas emissions by more than 80% by 2050.
The so-called G5 countries threw down the gauntlet in a statement before they joined the G8 summit in Japan. " ....
.... "The chairman of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, RK Pachauri, said developed countries should show leadership.
"They should get off the backs of India and China," he told reporters in the Indian capital, Delhi.
"They should say: 'We'll assist you to move to a pattern of development which is sustainable, low in terms of emissions intensity. But we as the richest nations are willing to take the lead and we affirm our commitment to do so.'"