PRESS RELEASE
Another Strong Argument for New Silk Road: Cato Institute
Oct. 8, 2017 (EIRNS)—The Cato Institute has put out an Oct. 6 analysis, "Recognizing the Upside of China’s Infrastructure Push," by Colin Grabow, a Cato fellow. It references the Atlantic Council’s major Eurasia Center event Oct. 4 which EIR reported on Oct. 5, particularly its stress on benefits to the American economy and those of Europe. Grabow quotes a report for Cato from Oct. 3:
"U.S. businesses, workers, and consumers, bearing no direct financial risk from One Belt, One Road or the [Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB)], stand to benefit from those initiatives to the extent that they succeed in spurring more trade and greater prosperity in the region. Policymakers should recognize that, although China may not be operating directly out of the preferred U.S. playbook, its efforts could serve to advance the broader U.S. objectives of peace and prosperity in Asia."
The Cato commentary criticizes Barack Obama’s hostility to China as essentially a continuation of Bush-Cheney policy, particularly Obama’s actions against the AIIB and his later attempts to explain them away.
Grabow says,
"President Trump, for all of his strident anti-China rhetoric on the campaign trail, dispatched a member of his National Security Council to attend China’s first Belt and Road Forum last May, and is reported to have made comments favorable towards China’s infrastructure push.
"Such developments provide encouragement that the U.S. is trending away from its initial skepticism, if not hostility, towards China’s infrastructure initiatives. If so, it is a welcome shift, and one that we should hope continues. These are yet early days, but China’s leadership on this and other economic initiatives in the region could help to literally pave the way towards expanded trade and prosperity." [emphasis added]
Cato Institute is a libertarian think-tank and was in recent years in the orbit of Rep. Ron Paul’s Presidential campaigns.
