Imagine a poker table.
At one seat, China's President Xi Jinping studies his cards. At another, Russian President Vladimir Putin is stroking his chin. Asian leaders fill the other seats, each trying to win the pot, which is filled — not with poker chips — but with jobs.
That's the kind of high-stakes game that played out this week in Indonesia, where global leaders got together to discuss trade relations. Their gathering ended Tuesday, and exactly who won what is not yet clear.
But this much is known: President Obama was not at the table.
And his absence, due to budget and debt tensions in Washington, was not good for American workers. Or at least that's the assessment of the president himself, as well as many economists.
'Important To Show Up'
Economists say the president needs to be in the game, but he missed his chances at the three-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit.
"It's always important to show up" whenever global leaders are talking trade, said Bill Adams, senior international economist for PNC Financial Services Group.
"Sweeping trade agreements are never settled at one meeting, but they are large and complex, so you need to keep working on them," he said. "You need face time with other leaders."
At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, Obama concurred.
"I should have been there," Obama said. "It's like me not showing up at my own party."
Many Asian leaders had hoped to end the APEC meeting with an announcement about advances in trade deals, in particular the Trans-Pacific Partnership with the United States. But those hopes fizzled, with some Asian officials saying they fear the TPP lost momentum because Obama was not there to push it.
Obama agreed, telling reporters, "I would characterize it as missed opportunities."
Advancing a megatrade deal is particularly important at this stage of the slow U.S. economic recovery, most economists contend. That's because growth spurts typically come from:
1.) fiscal stimulus (Congress spending money for new roads and bridges)
2.) monetary stimulus (the Federal Reserve making it easy and cheap to borrow) or
3.) favorable trade deals (U.S. companies getting access to new markets).
A Key Economic Ingredient
The Government Shutdown
Without Key Jobs Data, Markets And Economists Left Guessing