The Masters of the Universe that attended Davos last week don’t want to be negative.  Being negative is a bad thing. Unless you are whining about fictional U.S. protectionism.

But instead of receiving a warm embrace [at Davos], American policies were rebuked again and again in rhetoric that recalled the anger of the Bush years — mainly aimed at what the world views as the new threat of protectionism by the United States.

Note that they did not complain about Chinese protectionism, or Korea’s, or Europe’s, or Japan’s.  They want the U.S. consumer (and our credit cards and home equity loans) to continue funding their expansion.

Who was complaining?

“We must not allow market forces to be completely distorted,” Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, warned in a speech on Wednesday. “For instance, I am very wary of seeing subsidies injected into the U.S. auto industry. That could lead to distortion and protectionism.”

Apparently nobody had a chat with Angela about Germany subsidizing its car exports to the U.S. with VAT rebates, and applying VAT tariffs to our goods shipped there.  No… that would be too negative.

“It’s extremely preoccupying that one of the first acts of the new Obama administration could be a measure that is clearly protectionist and a distortion of competition,” said Anne-Marie Idrac, the French trade minister, who tried to draw Pascal Lamy, director general of the World Trade Organization, into the battle.

The French government said this.  The very country that would not sign the GATT without an exemption allowing them to charge VAT tariffs and engage in VAT subsidies of their exports.  The country that protects their industry as much or more than any Western European country.

By the way, the private financiers don’t feel responsible for the economic crisis, because everyone else was responsible.  Not them specifically.

One
Davos regular, Washington-based Carlyle Group’s managing director David
Rubenstein, said he thinks a key issue at this year’s gathering is “who
is at fault.” Yet Rubenstein, who was saying at Davos two years ago
that the outlook for leveraged buyouts was “very robust,” says
responsibility shouldn’t be tied only to him or his industry.

“There are six billion people on the face of the earth, and probably
about five billion participated in what went on,” Rubenstein said in an
interview. “Everybody participated in some way or shape or form.”

Golly, that must mean that the sweatshop workers were responsible… and the senior citizens living on fixed incomes were responsible… and the pizza delivery guy was responsible… .  

Who knew?