Posted on 02/20/2009 7:44:55 AM PST by TheRiverNile
Russian Prime Minister Vladamir Putin has said the US should take a lesson from the pages of Russian history and not exercise “excessive intervention in economic activity and blind faith in the state’s omnipotence”.
“In the 20th century, the Soviet Union made the state’s role absolute,” Putin said during a speech at the opening ceremony of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “In the long run, this made the Soviet economy totally uncompetitive. This lesson cost us dearly. I am sure nobody wants to see it repeated.”
Sounding more like Barry Goldwater than the former head of the KGB, Putin said, “Nor should we turn a blind eye to the fact that the spirit of free enterprise, including the principle of personal responsibility of businesspeople, investors, and shareholders for their decisions, is being eroded in the last few months. There is no reason to believe that we can achieve better results by shifting responsibility onto the state.”
Putin also cautioned the US against using military Keynesianism to lift its economy out of recession, saying, “in the longer run, militarization won’t solve the problem but will rather quell it temporarily. What it will do is squeeze huge financial and other resources from the economy instead of finding better and wiser uses for them.” Putin’s comments come in sharp contrast to Russia’s own military buildup and expansion.
Putin also echoed the words of conservative maverick Ron Paul when he said, “we must assess the real situation and write off all hopeless debts and ‘bad’ assets. True, this will be an extremely painful and unpleasant process. Far from everyone can accept such measures, fearing for their capitalization, bonuses, or reputation. However, we would ‘conserve’ and prolong the crisis, unless we clean up our balance sheets.”
“The time for enlightenment has come. We must calmly, and without gloating, assess the root causes of this situation and try to peek into the future.”
Its a strange world we live in when this gets a ping.....
Truly incredible.
Shows you how much trouble this country has CREATED FOR ITSELF.
Can we put this guy’s face on a Che shirt?
Putin knows he can’t get his desired price per barrel of oil from a dead broke socialist state ...
I am living in the BIZARRO WORLD.
Hey, we got to elect “the cool black guy” though, and that should be worth something, shouldn’t it?
Putin looks into Obama’s eyes and sees a fellow communist.
bookmark
Putin the KGB guy who imprisoned entrepeneurs and holds the state monopol on energy. Putin who runs a police state and is adored by an organized "Putin youth".
He is poking us knowingly in the eye.
Interesting. So basically he says “stop building up your military like we are so we can attack you like we did to Georgia.”
Exactly. Russia is in a Socialist state now, but he is trying to warn us about the fall of Capitalism!?
Now I damn well know I've gone through the looking glass!
I have no reason to believe Putin is a communist. Certainly he is a Homo Sovieticus, or at the very least a product of the same system that produced the Homo Sovieticus species, but that isn’t the same thing as a communist at all.
Who would have imagined t hear such a comment, as the above from Putin? Especially in regard to America?
Never say never.
His comment is wise ... if Obama and the congress realize the value and experience behind
it
It is surprising to me. Not certain of the motivation behind it.
Just damn, the man has it pegged!!
I guess this means I’ve lived long enough.
If Russia was still ruled by Czars, Putin would have served the Czar, it’s not about ideology, it’s about power.
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