‘They have spiritual values, too, of course, but success is still measured in material terms. In Russia, that's not the case. In Russia, broadly speaking, we talk about moral foundations.’
Vladimir Putin, in the documentary ‘Russia — the Kremlin Putin — 25 years’
Last week the Republican-controlled House of Representatives narrowly passed Donald Trump’s sweeping ‘big, beautiful’ Tax and Spending Bill which will saddle the United States with another $3.8 trillion on top of its existing $36 trillion debt pile over the next decade. The vote further pressurises the stripping of America's coveted triple-A status by the big credit rating agencies.
As we commented on 14th April, U.S. long bond yields are rising well above 5%, as markets see debt continuing to deteriorate and growth continuing to weaken, causing risk premiums to rise. The fact that, in exchange rate terms, the dollar remains 10% lower than in mid-January shows that confidence in U.S. policymaking has significantly deteriorated. As Francesco Pesole, a foreign exchange strategist at ING, said , ’The view is that, with this bill, Trump is playing with fire with the deficit’.
While few people would accept Putin's claim for moral foundations of any kind, his claim that material prosperity is prioritised in western culture is hard to refute. His own amorality is evidenced in violence and repression; however, we also lack a clear moral compass for our capitalist society.
Whether your focus is on the huge polarisation of wealth, particularly when viewed across generations, an irresponsible disregard for climate change, the axing of overseas aid budgets or the focus on narrow parochial self-interest, secular democratic societies struggle to hold onto a moral compass while their former Christian principles are often sidelined.
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