"I'm short the dollar,'' Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corp., told Charlie Rose in an interview late yesterday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. "The ol' dollar, it's gonna go down."Hey Bill-o: You know why I said these words should annoy as well as frighten us? Because in the year 2000, you supported Bush.
Gates's concern that widening U.S. budget and trade deficits are undermining the dollar was echoed in Davos by policymakers including European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.
The dollar fell 21 percent against a basket of six major currencies from the start of 2002 to the end of last year. The trade deficit swelled to a record $609.3 billion last year and total U.S. government debt rose 8.7 percent to $7.62 trillion in the past 12 months.
"It is a bit scary," Gates said. "We're in uncharted territory when the world's reserve currency has so much outstanding debt."
In truth, Gates has usually favored Democrats -- until recent times. The anti-trust suit made him veer right. Here's an idea, Bill: Why not throw a few million bucks toward the goal of building up some Democratic infrastructure? Books, movies, blogs, investigative reporting, think tanks, radio... At the very least, Slate could hire Murray Waas and give him a huuuuge budget. Some people still think that George Soros is keeping the left afloat, and that just isn't the case. The party of fiscal responsibility can't get back in the driver's seat until more CEOs understand just how poorly the Republicans have managed this country's finances.
5 comments:
Ah, ha ha ha ha. Ha. Will my Joseph ever fail to call someone on her or his hypocrisy or extraordinarily BAD choices? I think not. We should take quite a bit of comfort in that, fellow readers.
While I don't think Gates is Satan incarnate...all the time...that Bush-love way back when isn't something he can just expect those of us with long memories to forgive and forget. I realize that his new humanitarian efforts might be, in part, his way of trying to make up for his mistake in '00, and he does deserve credit for those efforts, but--can anything truly make up for a period of Bush support? Especially from someone as shrewd as Gates, who should have know better?
I'm with you and Robert Parry on this issue- it is just mind-boggling that progressive minded million-billionaires have not invested in a progressive media infrastructure to counter the massive, thirty-years-in-the-making right wing effort in this regard. Laudably, wealthy progressives have been exemplary philanthropists, but that doesn't help win elections, change policies, or challenge the conventional wisdom/propaganda of the right, which has convinced millions to vote against their own self-interests.(and against the financial interests of Bill Gates et.al.)
Yes, well we saw how such a bet worked for the world's second richest man (and the shareholders to whom he owes a fiduciary duty) -
"November 8, 2005
Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway reduced a bet against the US dollar after losing more than $US900 million ($1.23 billion) from foreign currency investments this year.
Mr Buffett, who has said the US trade deficit would weaken the US dollar, cut his foreign-currency forward contracts to $US16.5 billion in September from $US21.5 billion in June, Berkshire said in a statement. The US dollar in July reached a 13-month high against a basket of six major currencies."
http://www.smh.com.au/news/business/buffett-cuts-forex-loss-after-12b-hit/2005/11/07/1131212004579.html?oneclick=true
I'm not quite sure your point on this one Joseph. Union reps have been clamoring for a weak dollar policy for over a decade so that U.S. manufactured exports become more affordable to overseas markets - thereby helping bolster U.S. manufacturing employment. Since, as you've recognized, so many of our imports come from China which has a pegged currency, the impact of a weak dollar on the U.S. consumer would be limited. And I can't imagine you care what Wall Street wants in this regard, nor do I suspect you have any sympathy for Americans who can afford to and enjoy traveling overseas.
...this is a bit off topic here, but as we know all of this stuff is essentially tied in together somewhere along the way... tis the nature of this ugly bushy beast..
stumbled across this link to a page full of DU bits and pieces. seems like an older site, but i'm sure the info still stands.. might help shed some light...
http://www.chugoku-np.co.jp/abom/uran/index_e.html#1_us
m jed, I suggest you stay better abreast (ahem) of current affairs vis a vis the dollar. Since 11/05 it has precipitously dropped. Buffett was correct, although he may have folded his hand on that too soon.
You will notice the prices of commodities have skyrocketed over the past year, which, when you look at it, is a devaluation of the dollar.
Buffett bought 130 million ounces of silver bullion at 5-7 dollars an ounce, a few years back. It is now at 14 dollars an ounce--tidy profit of over a billion dollars. So don't be too contemptuous of him.
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