How Will Obama's Re-election Affect Israel's Economy?

The concern for the negative effects of Obama's re-election are real -- both in terms of the US economy, other domestic issues and foreign policy as well.

But those economic effects go beyond the US and have gloabal implications, including implications for Israel.

With Obama given another 4 years, Barry Rubin writes about The U.S. Election's Impact on the American and Israeli Economies -- after all, Obama is sure to continue the same economic policy.

As a result, we can look forward to:

• Lack of business confidence in Obama's plans
• Even higher taxes
• A complex and costly new health care system
• Uncertainty about new costs Obama is going to impose

The effect of these reactions will stretch beyond US borders:

And that will have a big effect on Israeli thinking. If Israeli policymakers--and businesspeople--view certain policies as failing in the United States they are unlikely to adapt those ideas to Israel, even if some of seem ideologically attractive to the moderate left here.

The strategy of higher taxes, high regulation, increasing government intervention, and bigger government are already unattractive in Israel and will be even more so. The Labor Party wants more effort on improving social welfare and lowering the country's high prices yet knows the Obama-European approach has been disastrous. .

Poor performance by the U.S. economy will also have a negative effect on Israel’s own growth and trade, reducing the prospects for exports to America and by having a depressing effect on the global economy.

Building on what Rubin writes here, perhaps between the disastrous foreign policy decisions and equally bad economic decisions of the Obama administration, it is time for Israel to look elsewhere for an ally that it can rely on.

Maybe China fits the bill.
After all:

• In 2010 it was reported that the Chinese government sent an official to England and Israel to earn a Ph.D. in Jewish studies, to come back to China and teach the future professors of Jewish studies from major universities of China.
• In July 2012 it was reported Israel's partner in the Eilat railroad project is going to be China and
• Barry Rubin wrote back in June, In A Few Years China Will Likely Be the Second-Most Important Country for Israel.

And since Obama will remain in power for another 4 years, who is to say that in a few years China might be the most important country for Israel?

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