Even a deeply dysfunctional United States will only marginally lessen its excessive global influence on its own. A fully "de-Americanised world," as demanded by China's official Xinhua news agency this week, would require international effort.
Political brinkmanship over US borrowing, resolved only at the last moment and even then only temporarily, was the ostensible trigger for China's railing. In the background was another worry - the destabilising global impact of Federal Reserve policy targeted largely at the domestic economy.
A de-Americanised world is a long way off. True, Washington's antics slightly diminish the aura surrounding the US dollar and Treasury bonds. Recent military exploits, the financial crisis and heavy-handed actions in the name of national security have hurt America's image too. But the United States remains the world's biggest economy. Treasuries-some $5.6 trillion of which are held by foreign investors-are the most important debt securities. The dollar remains the world's reserve currency. For all the scorn heaped on Washington, America's freedoms and wealth-key elements in US soft power-still serve as a beacon for migrants.
Officials elsewhere could act to speed de-Americanisation. China's GDP, at $8.4 trillion last year, was more than half the size of America's output in 2012, against barely a quarter five years earlier. If the People's Republic, and other nations, can convert this changing balance into economic clout and greater soft power, things will start to change.
Keeping their economies healthy by avoiding big deficits would be a start. Efforts to promote other currencies will take time, especially as China wants to retain tight control over the renminbi. But hoarders of foreign reserves could focus more on cash and bonds denominated in yen, euros, Swiss francs and sterling. Longer-term initiatives should include building domestic capital markets and investing prudently in fellow developing economies.
Xinhua's wish list, although broadly a political attack, also justifiably includes giving emerging nations more say in supranationals like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. If the US agreed, that would probably also show a willingness to engage more constructively with China in global affairs.
De-Americanisation along these lines will be slow. The outcome-more evenly shared influence and economic heft-is worth the wait.
Political brinkmanship over US borrowing, resolved only at the last moment and even then only temporarily, was the ostensible trigger for China's railing. In the background was another worry - the destabilising global impact of Federal Reserve policy targeted largely at the domestic economy.
A de-Americanised world is a long way off. True, Washington's antics slightly diminish the aura surrounding the US dollar and Treasury bonds. Recent military exploits, the financial crisis and heavy-handed actions in the name of national security have hurt America's image too. But the United States remains the world's biggest economy. Treasuries-some $5.6 trillion of which are held by foreign investors-are the most important debt securities. The dollar remains the world's reserve currency. For all the scorn heaped on Washington, America's freedoms and wealth-key elements in US soft power-still serve as a beacon for migrants.
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Keeping their economies healthy by avoiding big deficits would be a start. Efforts to promote other currencies will take time, especially as China wants to retain tight control over the renminbi. But hoarders of foreign reserves could focus more on cash and bonds denominated in yen, euros, Swiss francs and sterling. Longer-term initiatives should include building domestic capital markets and investing prudently in fellow developing economies.
Xinhua's wish list, although broadly a political attack, also justifiably includes giving emerging nations more say in supranationals like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. If the US agreed, that would probably also show a willingness to engage more constructively with China in global affairs.
De-Americanisation along these lines will be slow. The outcome-more evenly shared influence and economic heft-is worth the wait.