Not a single ECB press conference goes by without Christine Lagarde highlighting the war in Ukraine as she takes every opportunity to call it "unjustifiable" and express her horror -- the ECB even has a special section about it on its website.
I'm not here to argue with her, or about any other war. I'm in the business of making money and helping people make money in financial markets. Part of that is betting on which horses are winners and right now... Europe ain't it.
The Netherlands just had a shock election where a former fringe candidate won the most votes. Discontent with the status quo is rising. It won't end well.
Right now one of the collective tasks of the European elites -- and Lagarde is surely one of them -- is bringing the global south into the sphere of the west and away from China. I'd argue it's the single-most important task of western policymakers. The strongest card they can play is freedom, democracy and the rule of law, including international law.
Yet here is Lagarde's latest post on twitter:
I'm also not here to talk about Henry Kissinger's life or legacy but this is a man who is hated...hated... in the global south. He's the face of a generation of American imperialism that has much in common with Russia's war in Ukraine. There are hundreds of millions of people in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Argentina, Chile and elsewhere who don't think of him as a 'master strategist'.
So I ask: Who is she trying to impress with this post?
It's reminiscent of when she went to Davos -- the most out-of-touch place in the world -- and posted glamour shots.
This simply isn't the kind of leadership that's needed in Europe (or the world) right now. It's a scathing indictment of an elite that's being thrown out in almost every election is doubling-down on a day when the two most-trending posts on any social media are the brutal Rolling Stone obituary and this quote from Anthony Bourdain.
"Once you’ve been to Cambodia, you’ll never stop wanting to beat Henry Kissinger to death with your bare hands. You will never again be able to open a newspaper and read about that treacherous, prevaricating, murderous scumbag sitting down for a nice chat with Charlie Rose or attending some black-tie affair for a new glossy magazine without choking. Witness what Henry did in Cambodia — the fruits of his genius for statesmanship — and you will never understand why he’s not sitting in the dock at The Hague next to Milosevic”
What a headline:
