Monday, June 18, 2018

Mercatus Center Against Including Russia Into an Expanded G7

Cato says "No."
Daniel Griswold, Senior Research Fellow and Co-Director, Trade & Immigration Project, Mercatus Center at George Mason University, writes:
Russia had been part of the group, redubbed the G8, but it was kicked out in 2014 after the Russian army invaded the Crimea and eastern Ukraine. Nothing has changed that should cause the G7 members to revisit that decision.
Foreign policy aside, there’s another good reason why Russia should not be a member of a G7+. The current G7 countries have two things in common — large economies, and pluralistic democratic political systems that respect the rights of the individual. Russia has a large economy, the 12th largest in the word, but it fails the test of political and civil liberty.

Yes, since the G7 is about expanded trade (albeit crony--which is better than no trade) and better relations, let's screw the Russian population by limiting trade and better relations that would develop by Russian entry into what would be the G8.

Disgusting.

-RW  

4 comments:

  1. "The current G7 countries have... in common... pluralistic democratic political systems that respect the rights of the individual."

    Snigger.

    ReplyDelete
  2. RW: "expanded trade (albeit crony--which is better than no trade)"

    NOT RW: "property line control (albeit crony--which is better than no property line control)"

    No, for RW, if it's even a drop "crony" HE'S AGAINST IT ON PRINCIPLE! Right?

    Now I'm confused. Crony=bad or crony=better than nothing?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, it’s almost as if RW considers state aggression to be a bad thing. Very strange...

      Delete
    2. NAP MAN, return to your realpolitik base and you'll figure it out.

      Delete