Bloomberg Sounds Off On U.S. Economic Woes

Mayor Bloomberg is pinning the weakening dollar and skyrocketing oil costs to irresponsible fiscal policies carried out in Washington, and saying the result is an empowerment of dictators and "a massive movement of wealth from the Western world to the Third World."

At an event in Brooklyn yesterday, the mayor said the problem is "as serious ... as this country and the Western world has faced in a very long time."

Mr. Bloomberg termed "a very worrisome thing" the "destabilization around the world that is caused by the price of oil, which is really a reflection of a weak dollar, which in turn is deliberately because of terrible fiscal policies of this country that have been going on for more than one administration. We spend more than we have — our balance sheet is fast becoming the balance sheet of a Third World country."

He added that oil prices had put America "in the clutches of Third World dictatorships that have sponsored terrorism and overtly said they would like to destroy our freedoms."

Asked what America could do to remedy these problems, Mr. Bloomberg suggested that citizens demand clear responses from the presidential candidates as to how they would address them.

"I think you have to ask the candidates explicitly what they would do and then make a judgment based on what the experts say on whether those are intelligent policies," he said. He added that efforts to conserve energy and reduce dependence on oil, such as green buildings and mass transit, could contribute to a solution.