Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin used her first trip to Asia to attack the Federal Reserve for creating asset bubbles and encouraging excessive risk-taking that hurt working-class Americans.
In a wide-ranging, 80-minute speech to fund managers in Hong Kong today, Palin spoke about issues ranging from Alaskan fishing to energy independence to U.S.-Sino ties. She repeated calls for “market-oriented” health-care reform and said governments shouldn’t regulate executive compensation.
The Fed and the government sent a message to companies that “the bigger that you are, the more problems that you get yourself into, the more likely the government is to bail you out,” Palin said in the closed door speech, according to a tape of the event given to Bloomberg News. “Of course the little guys are left out then. We’re left holding the bag, all the moms and pops all over America.”
The speech was Palin’s first major public appearance since quitting as Alaska governor on July 26, less than a year after she ran with John McCain in an unsuccessful campaign against now-President Barack Obama. People at the event said she focused on a wide range of global and domestic issues rather than her own political future.
“It was a very safe speech,” said Suyeon An of RCM Asia Pacific Ltd, who left before Palin stopped talking. “Boring I have to say.”
Packed Ballroom
Palin, 45, spoke to a full house in the main ballroom of Hong Kong’s Grand Hyatt hotel. Reporters were kept out of the investor forum organized by CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, the regional brokerage unit of Paris-based Credit Agricole SA.
“It was a great speech,” Jonathan Slone, CLSA’s chief executive officer, said. “People got a lot of information” and “are now fully informed on Sarah Palin’s views.”
Palin criticized Obama’s plan to give the Fed powers to monitor risks to the financial system. A meltdown last year led to $1.6 trillion of bank losses and writedowns and triggered a global recession.
“How can we think that setting up the Fed as monitor of systemic risk in the financial sector will result in meaningful reform,” she said. “The words ‘fox’ and ‘henhouse’ come to mind.”
Palin, who only obtained a passport in 2007, faced criticism last year after saying her state’s proximity to Russia and Canada bolstered her foreign-policy credentials.
‘1,000 Missiles’
In her speech, she called the Obama administration’s decision to impose duties on Chinese tires a “mistake” and said America’s alliance with Japan “must continue to be the linchpin” of regional security.
“We simply cannot turn a blind eye to China’s policies and actions that could undermine international peace and security. China has some 1,000 missiles aimed at Taiwan and no serious observer believes that it poses a military threat to Beijing,” she said. “Those same Chinese forces made our friends in Japan and Australia kinda nervous. China provides support for some of the most questionable regimes from Sudan to Burma to Zimbabwe.”
Palin said her comments did not show any hostility towards China. “We simply want them to rise responsibly,” she said.
Trade with China will grow, including exports of U.S. high- tech goods, though for that to happen “we need China to improve the rule of law and protect intellectual property,” she said. “In the end, though, our economic relationship will truly thrive when Chinese citizens and foreign corporations can hold the Chinese government accountable when their actions are unjust.”
‘Building Nest Egg’
CLSA has declined to say if or how much Palin was paid. The speech may augment both her bank account and overseas profile ahead of a possible 2012 White House bid, said Charlie Cook, publisher of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report in Washington.
“When Palin resigned her governorship, it was assumed that it was in part to make more money, build a nest egg and lay the groundwork for a 2012 presidential race,” he said prior to the speech. “This trip is simply an example of her doing so.”
Little-known outside Alaska before McCain picked her as his running mate, Palin has largely kept a low public profile since stepping down as governor. Citing a scheduling conflict, she didn’t appear at a Sept. 19 “Values Voter Summit” in Washington that brought together some of the most ardent social conservatives in the U.S.
Palin remains on most lists of potential candidates for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination, along with former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, two 2008 contenders, among others. She hasn’t said whether she would pursue a campaign.
In a Bloomberg News poll this month, Palin had the highest unfavorable ratings among a list of public figures, at 55 percent. Asked about the difficulties of balancing her political career with her home life, Palin said today: “I have a husband. I could have used a wife.”
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Topic: Palin Attacks Fed on Hong Kong Visit, Wants ‘Responsible China’ (Read 550 times)