Daily Inspiration Quote by John W. Snow

Bureaucratic velvet glove, iron policy hand. John W. Snow’s sentence is engineered to sound like neutral technocracy while doing the classic work of U.S. economic diplomacy: applying pressure without ever admitting it’s pressure. The phrasing “continuing conversation” flatters the other side with the illusion of partnership; “urgency” quietly raises the temperature; “taking steps” implies they’ve been inactive or irresponsible; “remove barriers” frames whatever the U.S. wants-lower tariffs, looser regulations, more open capital markets-as common-sense housekeeping rather than a contested political choice. Even “their improved growth performance” turns the demand into a gift: we’re not asking you to do something for us, we’re asking you to do something for you.

The intent is managerial and strategic. Snow, speaking in the idiom of an economist-turned-Treasury secretary, is advancing a familiar post-1990s narrative: growth is bottlenecked by “barriers,” and the remedy is liberalization. That language avoids naming winners and losers. It ignores, on purpose, that many “barriers” are also domestic protections-labor standards, industrial policy, banking rules-that governments use to manage inequality, political stability, or national security.

The subtext reads: your slow growth is partly your fault, and U.S. patience has limits. In context, it fits the era’s Washington consensus confidence, where trade partners were encouraged (or nudged) to reshape their economies in ways that conveniently aligned with American exporters, investors, and geopolitical priorities. It’s diplomacy as spreadsheet: calm tone, sharp edges.