Cheesy title, I know. Perhaps I’ve been watching too much of the Jon Stewart show. This is really a post about a British economist, Emilie Rutledge, who recently wrote that the US Administration has put itself in an awkward position as a self-proclaimed free market advocate that is at the same time highly protective of its trade and investment relations:

Sultan Bin Nasser al-Suwaidi, the UAE’s central bank governor, said that “trade and investment relations with the United States must now be viewed from a new perspective�. Many analysts, including some from the US, have said that the DP World affair may set a damaging precedent and deter investors, particularly from the Middle East, from investing in the US.

[…]

For example, another Dubai government-owned company, Dubai International Capital, is in the process of buying Doncasters, a UK-based aerospace manufacturer, for $1.2bn. The takeover is relevant because Doncasters has various interests in US military weapons programmes, including the Joint Strike Fighter.

Dubai International Capital’s takeover of Doncasters has yet to receive much media attention in America, but if it does and the attention is similar to that DP World received it will further tarnish America’s free-trade reputation and the US will be seen as increasingly hypocritical.

Wow. Dubai will own a company that develops US weapons, including the Joint Strike Fighter? How will the free market advocates handle this?

Living in the US is starting to feel like being a passenger in a taxi that has just been carjacked and is careening wildly out of control at the hands of a less-than-rational or talented but enthusiastic driver who says “trust me, they’ll never catch us”. The meter is ticking, the ride is getting rougher by the minute, and I’m not even sure an actual destination is part of the discussion anymore.