Why the Chinese won’t listen to Obama.

It was interesting to hear Mr. Obama lecture the Chinese on the need for keeping their currency under the dictates of the market. He explained that it was in the self interest of the Chinese to do this if they really want a more sustainable economy.

But why should the Chinese listen to a man who has rejected the supreme wisdom of the market in many areas of his own country’s economy? The main argument presented by his opponents in the healthcare debate was that this industry should be put under the forces of the market instead of subjecting it to the intrusive powers of the state (Chinese-style). They proposed reforms that included such market based ideas as allowing interstate competition among the health insurance companies. But he simply mocked them for their “blind faith in market fundamentalism” and even dishonestly charged that this is “the kind of thinking” that created the crisis in the first place (the crisis was created by government intervention).

Mr. Obama should hope that the Chinese haven’t translated his many antimarket speeches from English.