Clyde Prestowitz, the former adviser to the Department of Commerce in the Reagan Administration and currently president of the Economic Strategy Institute, told the "Globes" 2007 Israel Business Conference yesterday that Israel would be ill-advised to rely on the US, given the impending recession and the ongoing weakness of the dollar. Speaking at a session entitled "Breaking Boundaries: Chocolate, Coffee, and the Moon", Prestowitz said, "Israel would do well to apply for membership of the EU."
Also taking part in the session were Dr. Dennis Hope, President of the Galactic Government, and Dr. Henrique Meirelles, Governor of the Central Bank of Brazil, who also predicted a further weakening in the dollar's global status.
Hope, the closing speaker, sparked a response from the audience when he invited them to buy lots on the moon. Asked what he would do if a foreign country, for example the US or China, tried to set up a colony on the moon, he answered laconically, "We'll make sure that if it trespasses, its bulldozers don't reach their destination."
Asked, jokingly, if he had space-age weaponry with which to defend his territory in the event of an invasion, Hope answered, "No, and nor is this a declaration of war. But we will deliver a clear message to any hostile country that it has a choice: either pay or us or get lost."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on December 10, 2007
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