Chile's President Makes Bold Claim to Bloomberg and the UN
Over the last few weeks Chile's President, Sebastian Piñera, has been on a whirlwind tour of Europe and North America meeting with media outlets, heads of state and the United Nations to talk about a number of geopolitical factors that are affecting the global economy today.
During an interview with Bloomberg TV, he spoke very passionately about the free market and expressed concern over rising tariffs, protectionism and economic stagnation that could result from a global trade war.
Another one of his primary talking points during the interview was debt.
The Chilean president talked about how important it was for governments to manage their spending and mentioned specific steps he's taking to attract foreign investment and promote entrepreneurship in Chile.
Then while in New York for a meeting with the UN he made it clear that while he agrees that action needs to be taken regarding the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, he said he did not support an armed invasion.
"We believe that the military option is a bad option because you might know how it's going to begin but you never know how it's going to end nor what the costs in terms of humans lives and suffering will be" he stated.
These kinds of comments might sound reasonable to you and me but they're highly abnormal to hear coming out of a politician's mouth (and especially poignant considering he gave this speech to an audience in a country that is known for initiating wars that linger on for decades after they're started).
In the US it doesn't matter if they're liberal or conservative, American policitians all across the political spectrum have been guilty of implementing and maintaining short sighted policies for decades.
They might claim to hold opposing views but always seem to find common ground when it comes to SPENDING and RACKING UP DEBT.
Many years ago while living in the US I realized that I'd had enough.
I wasn't going to just sit back and watch the people in charge of my town, state and country exercise such blatant fiscal irresponsibilty with our public finances.
I decided it was time to create a Plan B and internationalize my life.
There's no country on the planet that's perfect but there are some that are clearly in a better position than others.
In Chile, politicians have a very curious habit of insisting on locating a source of funding for a new governmental program BEFORE signing off on it.
They have one of the best equipped armed forces in Latin America and continue to add to their military assets but instead of sending them off on offensive missions they prefer to keep them in reserve training for defense.
And with one of the lowest debt to GDP ratios in the America's, they can actually afford to do things like beef up their military and loan money or issue grants to aspiring start up companies.
I can't say that the process of establishing myself in a new country has been fast or easy.
But I can say that it has been one of the best decisions I've ever made.
During an interview with Bloomberg TV, he spoke very passionately about the free market and expressed concern over rising tariffs, protectionism and economic stagnation that could result from a global trade war.
Another one of his primary talking points during the interview was debt.
The Chilean president talked about how important it was for governments to manage their spending and mentioned specific steps he's taking to attract foreign investment and promote entrepreneurship in Chile.
Then while in New York for a meeting with the UN he made it clear that while he agrees that action needs to be taken regarding the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, he said he did not support an armed invasion.
"We believe that the military option is a bad option because you might know how it's going to begin but you never know how it's going to end nor what the costs in terms of humans lives and suffering will be" he stated.
These kinds of comments might sound reasonable to you and me but they're highly abnormal to hear coming out of a politician's mouth (and especially poignant considering he gave this speech to an audience in a country that is known for initiating wars that linger on for decades after they're started).
In the US it doesn't matter if they're liberal or conservative, American policitians all across the political spectrum have been guilty of implementing and maintaining short sighted policies for decades.
They might claim to hold opposing views but always seem to find common ground when it comes to SPENDING and RACKING UP DEBT.
Many years ago while living in the US I realized that I'd had enough.
I wasn't going to just sit back and watch the people in charge of my town, state and country exercise such blatant fiscal irresponsibilty with our public finances.
I decided it was time to create a Plan B and internationalize my life.
There's no country on the planet that's perfect but there are some that are clearly in a better position than others.
In Chile, politicians have a very curious habit of insisting on locating a source of funding for a new governmental program BEFORE signing off on it.
They have one of the best equipped armed forces in Latin America and continue to add to their military assets but instead of sending them off on offensive missions they prefer to keep them in reserve training for defense.
And with one of the lowest debt to GDP ratios in the America's, they can actually afford to do things like beef up their military and loan money or issue grants to aspiring start up companies.
I can't say that the process of establishing myself in a new country has been fast or easy.
But I can say that it has been one of the best decisions I've ever made.
