European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - November 5, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 10 the stars and stripes thursday novembers. 1987 coir inns . Apple or. Financial markets crave political leadership the world s financial markets and those whose economic Well being depends upon them arc clamouring for political leadership in their Lime of Travail. So far he response has disappointed them. Some seek solutions some seek sym Bols. But nearly everyone touched by the violent upheavals of the past two weeks economists investors financiers agrees Wilh the comment of a leading British banker who said i see no end to this until the politicians Stop dithering and someone somewhere Steps Forward and offers some Clear eyed  the first place the shall shocked Finan Cial world looks is Washington and it has found Little reassurance so far in the performance of president Reagan. After a series of Bland pronouncements Rea Gan reluctantly agreed Tasi week la con Sider the possibility of tax increases i negotiations with Congress on reducing the Buff ocl deficit. But Many financiers and politicians have already concluded that the talks arc Likely to produce a re sult that the markets will dismiss As too Little too late. Compounding the problem is the reluctance of senior democrats including most of the party s presidential hopefuls to propound any bold plan of action to the absence from the scene of Paul a. Volcker the recently resigned chairman of the Federal Reserve Board who had an almost priestly capacity to inspire Confidence and offer reassurance on eco nomic questions. Maybe we need an International meeting maybe a series of individual National Steps that have been carefully coordinated a prominent Western Ambas Sador said the other evening. Whatever the right step Reagan is not taking it. We ire seeing definitive proof that the United states and the rest of us cannot get along without a function inn govern ment in  if there is no Franklin d. Roosevelt in Washington to respond dramatically to the current crisis not much is being heard from other capitals either. Politicians Wilh the authority of a Helmut Schmidt or a Valery Ziscand d Esling Are in notably Flora Lewis Short Supply at a time when fresh ideas from abroad would be More Welcome in Washington a they often arc in Tokyo a transition from one administration to another is under Ray. To. Paris Power is split Between a president and a Premier of rival parties. In Bonn Chancellor Helmut Kohl finds hims of hard pressed by Domestic rivals and inhibited by modern Germany s visceral terror of inflation. And in Britain prime minister Margaret Thatcher Western Europe s mos vigorous Leader of the past five years finds her strength sapped by the agonizing problem of a potentially disastrous Sale of government assets that has come at the worst possible time. To be sure it is by no Means certain that any Leader or combination of Lead ers however Wise and courageous could find a Way out of the current economic confusion. There is certainly no unanimity among eminent economists on such fundamental questions As whether a shrinking budget deficit is desirable at a time when the world Economy May be tipped into recession. Reagan is being told for exam ple that he must Calm the markets lower Mic Resl rates lower the budget deficit lower the Trade deficit and keep the Dopa steady All is or Iii Akir it of cos to Shuloff consumer spending and capital invest ment. He must do ail that what s More at a Lime when the democrats control bathhouses of Congress and when his own political Power and prestige have been wan ing rapidly for Many months. The financial world the world in general May be asking Loo much of government and there is a Sharp irony in that for in Good limes the financial world at least wants nothing so much As to be left alone. In medieval limes when unexpected and seemingly inexplicable calamities struck such As the plague people looked to the Church which offered Consolation in this world and the Promise of a better More lasting one to come. But in this a Ricly secular Century it Falls to govern ment to offer words and symbolic or substantive actions of reassurance when something happens that few had expected fewer still Are Able to explain and everyone finds threatening. By same Subtle process that is imperfectly understood one or iwo questions come to symbolic a government s willingness to respond 10 National and inter National anxiety even when Many to Perls doubt whether the one or iwo things arc Wise. Thus last week in Washington the question was whether Reagan would agree even to consider tax increases and this week in is whether such la increases together with spending nits will total significantly More Ihan the $23 billion that would have been saved next year under existing legislation even if Noone Here had agreed to anything new. A european Diplomat who has Bee warning his government not to take american deficit reduction As the sole test of Western resolve in meeting what he called this appalling crisis of Confidence said he found a certain International masochism in the cries for action from Wall Street and from the financial communities in London Frankfurt Zurich Tokyo and elsewhere. Here s a problem they say now you solve it the Diplomat added. I you have to cast aside your entire Politi Cal philosophy so much the belter. All we want is a restoration of Confidence and that s very  ii is not simple at All. If it were the most inept or most damaged political Leaden could manage in. In fact those who manage to rally the spirits of their nations in moments of trauma Rome veil in the midst of the Greaf depression in 1933, Churchill after Dunkirk in 1940, Degaulle in the aftershock of War in 1945 Are considered men apart for thai very reason. Reagan for whom Roosevelt was nearly idol has managed in the past to achieve a resuscitation of National self Confidence but he has not even begun in Earnest to try this Lime. A brilliantly gifted performer on television with a rare ability to look into the camera an create the illusion thai he is speaking personally to every viewer he has Noi yet made a speech to the nation and the world about the upheaval in the markets. New a Tok tuna new St rvs journalists of the future appear Able realistic Columbia to. Naturally there was a lot of talk about the role of the press and is responsibilities during the annual journalism week at h University of Missouri s school of journalism. In is the oldest school of its kind founded in 1908, and proud of its contribution to professionalism. To judge by the questions they asked an assortment of visitors the students belied the image of a new generation s single minded March to Yuppie Dom. They were sensitive informed and showed concern about being Good citizens As a Cal As getting Good jobs. In fact several complained privately that they were not being taught enough about the past and the world outside that confronts America. For hem the Viet Nam War is already history but they said in is skipped Over with a Bare mention in their courses. They wanted deeper probing into How and Why in happened what went wrong what to watch Oul for. They criticized what they considered excessive american inwardness self congratulation Igno Rance of other countries. One said a teacher told the class that Only a democracy can have a free press and that Only America meets the Standard. The implication was that no other country is fully democratic because no other country has precisely the same constitutional system As the United states. She was angered by such nonsense. She knew better. But when the talk turned to defining democracy in was Clear that that subject had been skipped Over Loo. The students had t been practice in articulating the notion. And they minded that it had been left so vague for them. A few years ago a 12-year-old in Florida old me he had Learned in school thai in was wrong to Call the United states democratic because it is a Republic. He had no inkling of the difference Between the principle of a government and the selection of its titular head. The Missouri College students were appalled to hear about in but not really surprised. They were disdainful at what they considered most americans Lack of knowledge about such basics. They wanted to be journalists because they were seriously Dimerc std in Public affairs and in provid ing the information a country needs to run itself and to make its society function satisfactorily. They wanted to travel and to learn and to know people different from themselves not just to Shine in television lights. They did t imagine they were going to change the world fix All its flaws and save ii from perdition. They did t even bother with the questions i often gel from Earnest do goobers such As what should the press do to prevent War what should the press do to assure peace to save the environment to eradicate poverty As if the press makes the world s decisions. But they said they Felt they could contribute by dig Ging out and telling truth As Bestil can be found. I think i can make a difference said one who clearly wanted to. They were worried about politics no mention of the Slock Market and particularly about choosing a president. They were sophisticated about the Way Tele vision can conceal and distort As Well As reveal the essence of a candidate As he goes about manufacturing image. They wondered How they could find out the telling details of a Man s relations with his staff the kind of people he listens to the Way he conceives of a politician s duly which give much More insight into How he is Likely to Wield Power and Bear responsibility than do his Campaign presentations. That indeed they thought is an obligation of the press All the More in the age of High tech Public relations hype. They Don t like being fooled and they Don l want to take part in the fooling. They want to be told and they Waul to Tell straightforwardly. These were Only a few students on one Campus in the Midwest but they did seen to represent their classmates and their Peers. They were optimistic but not at All dreamy. They were eager to a on and turn utter hands to work they can consider useful and interesting. There has been much talking about the closing of american minds but there was no sign of it of if anything they were asking for More not less substance in their Educa Tion and the opportunities they Lal cd about were for responsibility and exertion not sell indulgence. This is a Good sign when the mood seems gloomy and fearful Uncertain about the Economy fretting that a canny russian Leader is about to pull a fast one on a naive trustful America irritated that the world fails to see the United slates through Anu rican eyes. The new crop looks Fine Able and realistic