"Trump’s tariff threats could destabilize the global economy: Trump’s protectionist policies threaten to radically unbalance the balance of payments and exchange rates throughout the world..."
American/western "deciders" reason in a stark provincial manner; they are unable to grasp the complexity of worldwide interactions and changes. The lack of responsibility has degraded the "deciders" into unruly and capricious children mentally. They still hope for an uninterrupted continuation of Looting operations.
The School of Hard Knocks is open 24/7. The first signal would be default in international payments. I can see a claim being made to force majeure with finger pointing to the US for creating that outcome.
The canary in this coal mine is likely Wall Street.
thanks karl.. one typo here.. i think you mean russia instead of outlaw usa empire - "Again, what legal basis would the Outlaw US Empire have in negotiating for Ukraine since Ukraine has a no-negotiate law."
i like how you summarize it as the philosophical difference between win-win and zero sum couldn't be more stark.. very true!!
i am not convinced the usa and the financial empire it sits on, is ready for collapse just yet, but i agree that the actions being taken are speeding its demise..
It doesn't matter which way you look at it. Whether it's military aggression, financial coercion, societies breaking down. America is the main cause of the World's biggest problems & always had been. We won't ever solve this problem with a military or financial responce. As its a cultural thing, Americans don't live in the same reality as the rest of the World. They live in a fantasy world created by politicians & media. That civilians outside of America don't understand. America is alien on so many levels & they don't even know it or realise it. That's the reason most Americans never venture to the World outside of American borders. Their media picks up on any negativity in a foreign land & pushes it on Americans. Without comparing it to what happens usually 10x worse in America itself. They can't understand why the World doesn't buy American goods. They don't even know the likes of foreign cars imported into America. Have to tune their performance downwards to be able to sell in America. As the saying goes "Ignorance is Bliss"
I am not a trained economist or an expert in currencies and financial matters. Therefore, I will only write a brief reflection on this. Please excuse my naivety and unknowledge.
I suspect that the financial elite have long recognized that a radical transformation of the socio-economic system, means of payment and control of money circulation is necessary. Many aspects play a role.
For example, the fact that new market players, such as Russia and China, are entering into competition and successfully becoming more and more independent of the Western oligarchy, especially in the USA.
The system of unbridled fiat money and exponential debt is no longer sustainable with conventional methods. In addition, the massive outsourcing of production to China and the so-called "global south" has led to a dramatic increase in dependence on these production sites. At the same time, global supply chains have been organized and energy and raw materials are increasingly outside the control of Western corporations. Especially after these stupid sanctions against China and Russia, which forced Western corporations to withdraw from this business. Perhaps they were speculating that the Russian partners would go bankrupt and they could take over the whole business on their own.
I have to cut to the chase. The goal is to introduce a CBDC and social credit score system. Everything else is subordinate to that. Not to mention that there has been a comprehensive redistribution of wealth from bottom to top since the early 2000s.
The problem for the US oligarchy is that the development of the BRICS+, SOC, EAEU, ... and the increasing integration by the global South, and in particular the fact that the BRICS+ use their own currencies and develop their own payment and messaging systems, ultimately leads to a total loss of control. We are currently only seeing the beginning of this development.
Trump is no coincidence. He is exactly the "right" president today. Trump is part of the oligarchy, and so narcissistic and egocentric that he is perfect for realizing the new, completely undisguised imperial brutality of the US oligarchy. Basically, they have perfectly succeeded in convincing even the tormented farmers and working class that Trump is their messiah. The awakening will be bitter.
I still haven't written about Europe. Europe has been in a process of colonization since 1945 at the latest. In 2025 we will see the result of these activities. Although I don't want to ignore the fact that European oligarchs also benefited from it. The same hype as around Trump is being repeated in Germany with the AfD. The parallels are obvious. What the working class and farmers do not understand is that the AfD is the perfect means for the USA to lead Germany and Europe in an extreme neoliberal direction and to keep them in vassal status to the USA. The "old" elites no longer fit into this process.
But as long as Russia and China act in close partnership and successfully develop the BRICS+ and, above all, displace the USD, the US oligarchy's plan for subjugation will not succeed.
What has happened now under Trump is that the USA is trying with unmistakable brutality to bring as many raw materials and energy resources, supply routes and energy flows under its control as possible. The USA is also pushing Europe into the abyss. This is a strategic mistake because Europe will at some point be so impoverished and deindustrialized that it can only serve as a military base. But it will no longer have the consumer power to support US production. South Korea, Japan and other countries will closely monitor this development.
As often noted in the discussions of the Geopolitical Economic Hour between Hudson and Desai, the Western global financial system has existed in a state of destabilization since WW1 punctuated by many crises. Keynes’s suggestions at Bretton Woods that were rejected by Dexter White are still likely the best solution to the international creditor/debtor problem. Within a revamped Keynesian system, the CBDCs could eventually operate in conjunction with a new central clearing house as a bancor type of instrument. But before that can occur, the economies of the Global Majority need to advance structurally while also making a stand on the dollarized debt issue. I’ll be very curious to hear what Hudson and Wolff discuss Thursday as they’ll have a few more days of Trump policy examples to look at and discuss.
Thanks Karl, that was excellent. The only reason Trump and his hangers-on think it will work is that they are thick as bricks and hubristic enough to think that they can create their own reality, just as Karl Rove once boasted.
However, this is far from the case, as with these guys there seems to be absolutely no recognition as to how little it is that they actually know. For instance, Trump was talking about Spain being one of the BRICS nations and that it should be punished for this impertinence. If this is one of the starting points on your map it is not going to be long before you are hopelessly lost and I think this is where Trump and his cronies are headed. They just don't know it yet. It is quite risible as well, that global institutions such as the IMF and WTO which were set up to serve US interests are now seen as ripping the US off. Little do they know the little that they know. Interesting times.
I found that comment by Trump unbelievably stupid. And I am no apologist but he was in the midst of a whirlwind week and I think he scrambled Spain's role agreeing with the ICC's condemnation of Israel with BRICS. In other words, he was speaking as a Jew and simply muddled up the labels placed upon his enemies. Possibly he really has no idea who is in BRICS but I very much doubt it. He talks down to his audience as all populists must do, but many who meet him for the first time say is is far more well informed than they anticipated. So I would put this down to just being in the middle of a stunning week of blockbuster events hour after hour.
"For the Biden administration, Ukraine was an absolute priority. It is clear that the relationship between Trump and Biden is antagonistic. Therefore, Ukraine will not be among Trump's priorities. He is more concerned about China.
In addition, as you said, he outlined his interests in relation to Greenland, the Panama Canal, Mexico and Canada. It is an American tradition to redraw the map of the world to suit one's interests and interfere in the affairs of countries on different continents."
******
Well, Trump and the Republicans are "antagonistic" to Biden and the Democrats in the same way that Mafia crime family members have antagonisms with each other.
That is, they may have their petty turf war beefs but, at the end of the day, they are all devout members of the mafia crime family known as the United States of America.
And they will treat all non-members of this American mafia with even greater hatred.
The only "debate" in America in terms of US foreign policy is which country should the USA whack next and how.
If Trump can be persuaded to believe that extirpating the Nazis from Ukraine is necessary, then achieving it will make them losers and Trump the winner. By win-lose logic: you[=not me] lose, I win.
But deNazification isn’t susceptible to a “make it so” that Trump’s ‘executives’ could magically achieve. The Russians will have to do it which will take time, determination and political intelligence, which the Trumpage doesn’t have.
Yes, denazification must come as close to 100% as possible, plus all the Russophobic Neoliberal Europeans need to be purged from their government or dictatorial positions followed by the collapse of NATO/EU, all of which will stretch until Putin leaves office in 2030 leaving the new Eurasian Security Structure behind. All that’s why who follows Trump in 2028-9 is important.
"How the Ukrainian crisis is ultimately resolved depends largely on the interpretation of the terms “victory” and “defeat.” Both sides must align their definitions and find political will to declare a solution where “nobody has lost to anybody.” This is where the room for negotiation lies—if the desire exists. ....
Those who frame Trump’s presidency as a grand chess match with Russia are succumbing to naïve delusions. Trump has already signaled that his administration’s primary focus will not be resolving the Ukraine crisis. Instead, Trump envisions a bold session of simultaneous play on multiple geopolitical boards, stretching across continents.
Canada, Greenland, the Panama Canal — the list goes on. Trump’s approach reflects both an audacious attempt to reshape the global order and a rejection of the so-called “rules-based order” promoted by Joe Biden. Trump seeks to replace this outline with his own — “Trump’s rules” — which also remain unwritten but are already beginning to take shape."
The first paragraph highlights Trump's main predicament. Russia will win in Ukraine. For Trump to turn that into some semblance - if not actual - win-win he has to expand the playing field. I think he is working on a Grand Geopolitical Bargain. This will have to resolve:
Taiwan - bugging out (he just announced probably putting tariffs on their chips)
European sovereignty, dismantling or greatly reducing NATO.
I suspect his focus on Greenland, Canada and Panama is part of a Grand Bargain that as part of a new multinodal, multi-civilizational world order, America will focus on the Americas and pull out of everywhere else.
The fly in the ointment - and not just for US - is Israel with her diaspora of entrenched power players throughout the developed world, including US, half of Latin America, most of Europe, Russia and probably China, not to mention Australia and New Zealand (and Japan?). In the US, it is bound up with what is called the Deep State, or sometimes more simply 'the globalists'.
I have been mentally floating a fantasy that IF the Palestinians are somehow persuaded to leave Palestine to Israel (i.e. the slaughter becomes to much even for this exceptionally brave people to bear) such that Israel finally has the Jews-only State they yearn for (with a little of Lebanon and Syria thrown in), then MAYBE they can be persuaded to loosen their hold on US Western polities, get out of interfering with Intelligence, Finance, elections, foreign policy, credit cartels and such. IF that were to happen, America could become a more normal republic, less of an Empire, but still a highly prosperous sovereign state, the leading one in the Americas which are a huge variegated zone. China, Russia and RoW can get on building their new Eurasian civilization, hopefully with Europe joining in and swinging both ways, having good relations with both East and the Americas.
Something like that. For Trump to settle the Ukraine debacle with Russia he is going to have to come up with a greater thing as parts of your excerpts mention. Possibly his vision is insufficient for the task, or warped in deeply flawed ways that doom any such attempts, but I would rather wait to see how things transpire in the next few months before casting final judgment.
Agree it’s too early to tell as we still haven’t heard/read Trump’s formal economic proposals to Congress. Plus, Trump’s entire first line team has yet to be confirmed. IMO, the Zionists will be just as bad as the British elite—ridding oneself of exceptionalism isn’t usually done solo as a shove is generally required. But pushback has already begun. There’s a treaty provision that resurfaced about Greenland that bars the US from its acquisition that was agreed to by Wilson. Canada won’t just become a 51st state but 51-60th states which will completely upset congressional chemistry, not to mention the problems with First Nation Peoples who have far more legal power than Native Americans. I’m sure this and other excellent references will be used to deter Trump—do note how Polk’s war of aggression is now officially described, https://coha.org/175-years-of-border-invasions-the-anniversary-of-the-u-s-war-on-mexico-and-the-roots-of-northward-migration/
The Empire needed a bully to get the ROW on board with America First, hence Trump was allowed to become president, he's the perfect face for what they want to accomplish.
Trump goes back to the Mckinley era circa 1897 to get his tariff policy, but the year we now live in is 2025. I guess not much has happened since then. The biggest problem Trumps policy has is amerika no longer produces/manufactures anything. Since we sent all manufacturing to China in the 1990's we've been living off the teat of a dollar thats used to purchase everything. Well while that dollar might be strong against a basket of currencies that WS decides upon, it's basically good for nothing. IOW's if amerika couldn't keep on printing dollars they'd have nothing to trade with foreign countries for the goods that it needs.
Deepseek broke open the dam of the greatest lie ever, that amerika is exceptional, so buckle up for if you live in a country associated closely to the usa you're in for a world of hurt
Dr Hudson often makes the point that along with deindustrialization, the US has crippled its workforce with high living costs, inferior education, and corrupted infrastructure. So that even if the US wanted to re-industrialize, its labor force would not be up to the job and likely unavailable. China, for example, provides a healthy public infrastructure, affordable housing, good education and healthcare, and convenient transportation and communication. Thus, a Chinese worker's wages and Chinese industry are extensively subsidized by the state. America did the same in the latter half of the 19th century and this enabled it to become the 'workhouse of the world' at the time. But financial capitalism and neoliberalism have created a different country, one seemingly only able to exist by virtue of rent payments from the rest of the world.
Precisely. Hudson and I have chatted about what would actually need to occur for the US to reindustrialize—it would require a complete overhaul of the Federal government and much of the Constitution so as many rents can be collected for public benefit and thus greatly lower the cost of doing business and supporting workers—a 100% smashing of the oligarchy and replacement by genuine democratic governance.
Whatever you think about Trump, his policies and the team that supports these positions - you cannot really argue that they seek to put "America First" and at the expense of other peoples and nations. In that sense then we still have a sort of neo-colonialist approach to the rest of the world and we can already see "bad" behaviour from his regime in respect of breaking treaties, agreements and international law by simple dint of might makes right.
Now if I look at his proposals and actions so far through American eyes I would not really have too many complaints, His internal opponents/enemies might justifiably complain that they are destablising and as such will change the USA's position in the world - possibly for the worse though that is obviously not Mr T's aim. Nevertheless my point here is that we should not be surprised by a USA agenda that seeks to dominate the ROW, albeit using methods and narratives that are perhaps very different from previous administrations - but who also sought to dominate. Plus ca change, rien de change.
One way to manage an empire in decline is to increase its offensive actions using whatever powers it has remaining, which is what we’re seeing. That why Global South solidarity on the dollarized debt issue is critical—if they act in unison, there’s nothing Trump can do.
Thank you!
"Trump’s tariff threats could destabilize the global economy: Trump’s protectionist policies threaten to radically unbalance the balance of payments and exchange rates throughout the world..."
American/western "deciders" reason in a stark provincial manner; they are unable to grasp the complexity of worldwide interactions and changes. The lack of responsibility has degraded the "deciders" into unruly and capricious children mentally. They still hope for an uninterrupted continuation of Looting operations.
Great article.
The School of Hard Knocks is open 24/7. The first signal would be default in international payments. I can see a claim being made to force majeure with finger pointing to the US for creating that outcome.
The canary in this coal mine is likely Wall Street.
thanks karl.. one typo here.. i think you mean russia instead of outlaw usa empire - "Again, what legal basis would the Outlaw US Empire have in negotiating for Ukraine since Ukraine has a no-negotiate law."
i like how you summarize it as the philosophical difference between win-win and zero sum couldn't be more stark.. very true!!
i am not convinced the usa and the financial empire it sits on, is ready for collapse just yet, but i agree that the actions being taken are speeding its demise..
It doesn't matter which way you look at it. Whether it's military aggression, financial coercion, societies breaking down. America is the main cause of the World's biggest problems & always had been. We won't ever solve this problem with a military or financial responce. As its a cultural thing, Americans don't live in the same reality as the rest of the World. They live in a fantasy world created by politicians & media. That civilians outside of America don't understand. America is alien on so many levels & they don't even know it or realise it. That's the reason most Americans never venture to the World outside of American borders. Their media picks up on any negativity in a foreign land & pushes it on Americans. Without comparing it to what happens usually 10x worse in America itself. They can't understand why the World doesn't buy American goods. They don't even know the likes of foreign cars imported into America. Have to tune their performance downwards to be able to sell in America. As the saying goes "Ignorance is Bliss"
I am not a trained economist or an expert in currencies and financial matters. Therefore, I will only write a brief reflection on this. Please excuse my naivety and unknowledge.
I suspect that the financial elite have long recognized that a radical transformation of the socio-economic system, means of payment and control of money circulation is necessary. Many aspects play a role.
For example, the fact that new market players, such as Russia and China, are entering into competition and successfully becoming more and more independent of the Western oligarchy, especially in the USA.
The system of unbridled fiat money and exponential debt is no longer sustainable with conventional methods. In addition, the massive outsourcing of production to China and the so-called "global south" has led to a dramatic increase in dependence on these production sites. At the same time, global supply chains have been organized and energy and raw materials are increasingly outside the control of Western corporations. Especially after these stupid sanctions against China and Russia, which forced Western corporations to withdraw from this business. Perhaps they were speculating that the Russian partners would go bankrupt and they could take over the whole business on their own.
I have to cut to the chase. The goal is to introduce a CBDC and social credit score system. Everything else is subordinate to that. Not to mention that there has been a comprehensive redistribution of wealth from bottom to top since the early 2000s.
The problem for the US oligarchy is that the development of the BRICS+, SOC, EAEU, ... and the increasing integration by the global South, and in particular the fact that the BRICS+ use their own currencies and develop their own payment and messaging systems, ultimately leads to a total loss of control. We are currently only seeing the beginning of this development.
Trump is no coincidence. He is exactly the "right" president today. Trump is part of the oligarchy, and so narcissistic and egocentric that he is perfect for realizing the new, completely undisguised imperial brutality of the US oligarchy. Basically, they have perfectly succeeded in convincing even the tormented farmers and working class that Trump is their messiah. The awakening will be bitter.
I still haven't written about Europe. Europe has been in a process of colonization since 1945 at the latest. In 2025 we will see the result of these activities. Although I don't want to ignore the fact that European oligarchs also benefited from it. The same hype as around Trump is being repeated in Germany with the AfD. The parallels are obvious. What the working class and farmers do not understand is that the AfD is the perfect means for the USA to lead Germany and Europe in an extreme neoliberal direction and to keep them in vassal status to the USA. The "old" elites no longer fit into this process.
But as long as Russia and China act in close partnership and successfully develop the BRICS+ and, above all, displace the USD, the US oligarchy's plan for subjugation will not succeed.
What has happened now under Trump is that the USA is trying with unmistakable brutality to bring as many raw materials and energy resources, supply routes and energy flows under its control as possible. The USA is also pushing Europe into the abyss. This is a strategic mistake because Europe will at some point be so impoverished and deindustrialized that it can only serve as a military base. But it will no longer have the consumer power to support US production. South Korea, Japan and other countries will closely monitor this development.
As often noted in the discussions of the Geopolitical Economic Hour between Hudson and Desai, the Western global financial system has existed in a state of destabilization since WW1 punctuated by many crises. Keynes’s suggestions at Bretton Woods that were rejected by Dexter White are still likely the best solution to the international creditor/debtor problem. Within a revamped Keynesian system, the CBDCs could eventually operate in conjunction with a new central clearing house as a bancor type of instrument. But before that can occur, the economies of the Global Majority need to advance structurally while also making a stand on the dollarized debt issue. I’ll be very curious to hear what Hudson and Wolff discuss Thursday as they’ll have a few more days of Trump policy examples to look at and discuss.
Thanks Karl, that was excellent. The only reason Trump and his hangers-on think it will work is that they are thick as bricks and hubristic enough to think that they can create their own reality, just as Karl Rove once boasted.
However, this is far from the case, as with these guys there seems to be absolutely no recognition as to how little it is that they actually know. For instance, Trump was talking about Spain being one of the BRICS nations and that it should be punished for this impertinence. If this is one of the starting points on your map it is not going to be long before you are hopelessly lost and I think this is where Trump and his cronies are headed. They just don't know it yet. It is quite risible as well, that global institutions such as the IMF and WTO which were set up to serve US interests are now seen as ripping the US off. Little do they know the little that they know. Interesting times.
I found that comment by Trump unbelievably stupid. And I am no apologist but he was in the midst of a whirlwind week and I think he scrambled Spain's role agreeing with the ICC's condemnation of Israel with BRICS. In other words, he was speaking as a Jew and simply muddled up the labels placed upon his enemies. Possibly he really has no idea who is in BRICS but I very much doubt it. He talks down to his audience as all populists must do, but many who meet him for the first time say is is far more well informed than they anticipated. So I would put this down to just being in the middle of a stunning week of blockbuster events hour after hour.
Very very useful reading. Ta. D.
Excellent post!!!
"For the Biden administration, Ukraine was an absolute priority. It is clear that the relationship between Trump and Biden is antagonistic. Therefore, Ukraine will not be among Trump's priorities. He is more concerned about China.
In addition, as you said, he outlined his interests in relation to Greenland, the Panama Canal, Mexico and Canada. It is an American tradition to redraw the map of the world to suit one's interests and interfere in the affairs of countries on different continents."
******
Well, Trump and the Republicans are "antagonistic" to Biden and the Democrats in the same way that Mafia crime family members have antagonisms with each other.
That is, they may have their petty turf war beefs but, at the end of the day, they are all devout members of the mafia crime family known as the United States of America.
And they will treat all non-members of this American mafia with even greater hatred.
The only "debate" in America in terms of US foreign policy is which country should the USA whack next and how.
If Trump can be persuaded to believe that extirpating the Nazis from Ukraine is necessary, then achieving it will make them losers and Trump the winner. By win-lose logic: you[=not me] lose, I win.
But deNazification isn’t susceptible to a “make it so” that Trump’s ‘executives’ could magically achieve. The Russians will have to do it which will take time, determination and political intelligence, which the Trumpage doesn’t have.
Yes, denazification must come as close to 100% as possible, plus all the Russophobic Neoliberal Europeans need to be purged from their government or dictatorial positions followed by the collapse of NATO/EU, all of which will stretch until Putin leaves office in 2030 leaving the new Eurasian Security Structure behind. All that’s why who follows Trump in 2028-9 is important.
Great article. Thank you very much.
"How the Ukrainian crisis is ultimately resolved depends largely on the interpretation of the terms “victory” and “defeat.” Both sides must align their definitions and find political will to declare a solution where “nobody has lost to anybody.” This is where the room for negotiation lies—if the desire exists. ....
Those who frame Trump’s presidency as a grand chess match with Russia are succumbing to naïve delusions. Trump has already signaled that his administration’s primary focus will not be resolving the Ukraine crisis. Instead, Trump envisions a bold session of simultaneous play on multiple geopolitical boards, stretching across continents.
Canada, Greenland, the Panama Canal — the list goes on. Trump’s approach reflects both an audacious attempt to reshape the global order and a rejection of the so-called “rules-based order” promoted by Joe Biden. Trump seeks to replace this outline with his own — “Trump’s rules” — which also remain unwritten but are already beginning to take shape."
The first paragraph highlights Trump's main predicament. Russia will win in Ukraine. For Trump to turn that into some semblance - if not actual - win-win he has to expand the playing field. I think he is working on a Grand Geopolitical Bargain. This will have to resolve:
Ukraine (accepting Russian expansion, demilitarization, denazification)
Israel's domestic and regional viability
Taiwan - bugging out (he just announced probably putting tariffs on their chips)
European sovereignty, dismantling or greatly reducing NATO.
I suspect his focus on Greenland, Canada and Panama is part of a Grand Bargain that as part of a new multinodal, multi-civilizational world order, America will focus on the Americas and pull out of everywhere else.
The fly in the ointment - and not just for US - is Israel with her diaspora of entrenched power players throughout the developed world, including US, half of Latin America, most of Europe, Russia and probably China, not to mention Australia and New Zealand (and Japan?). In the US, it is bound up with what is called the Deep State, or sometimes more simply 'the globalists'.
I have been mentally floating a fantasy that IF the Palestinians are somehow persuaded to leave Palestine to Israel (i.e. the slaughter becomes to much even for this exceptionally brave people to bear) such that Israel finally has the Jews-only State they yearn for (with a little of Lebanon and Syria thrown in), then MAYBE they can be persuaded to loosen their hold on US Western polities, get out of interfering with Intelligence, Finance, elections, foreign policy, credit cartels and such. IF that were to happen, America could become a more normal republic, less of an Empire, but still a highly prosperous sovereign state, the leading one in the Americas which are a huge variegated zone. China, Russia and RoW can get on building their new Eurasian civilization, hopefully with Europe joining in and swinging both ways, having good relations with both East and the Americas.
Something like that. For Trump to settle the Ukraine debacle with Russia he is going to have to come up with a greater thing as parts of your excerpts mention. Possibly his vision is insufficient for the task, or warped in deeply flawed ways that doom any such attempts, but I would rather wait to see how things transpire in the next few months before casting final judgment.
Agree it’s too early to tell as we still haven’t heard/read Trump’s formal economic proposals to Congress. Plus, Trump’s entire first line team has yet to be confirmed. IMO, the Zionists will be just as bad as the British elite—ridding oneself of exceptionalism isn’t usually done solo as a shove is generally required. But pushback has already begun. There’s a treaty provision that resurfaced about Greenland that bars the US from its acquisition that was agreed to by Wilson. Canada won’t just become a 51st state but 51-60th states which will completely upset congressional chemistry, not to mention the problems with First Nation Peoples who have far more legal power than Native Americans. I’m sure this and other excellent references will be used to deter Trump—do note how Polk’s war of aggression is now officially described, https://coha.org/175-years-of-border-invasions-the-anniversary-of-the-u-s-war-on-mexico-and-the-roots-of-northward-migration/
Brilliant. Keep it up.
The Empire needed a bully to get the ROW on board with America First, hence Trump was allowed to become president, he's the perfect face for what they want to accomplish.
Trump goes back to the Mckinley era circa 1897 to get his tariff policy, but the year we now live in is 2025. I guess not much has happened since then. The biggest problem Trumps policy has is amerika no longer produces/manufactures anything. Since we sent all manufacturing to China in the 1990's we've been living off the teat of a dollar thats used to purchase everything. Well while that dollar might be strong against a basket of currencies that WS decides upon, it's basically good for nothing. IOW's if amerika couldn't keep on printing dollars they'd have nothing to trade with foreign countries for the goods that it needs.
Deepseek broke open the dam of the greatest lie ever, that amerika is exceptional, so buckle up for if you live in a country associated closely to the usa you're in for a world of hurt
another nice write up Karl!!
Dr Hudson often makes the point that along with deindustrialization, the US has crippled its workforce with high living costs, inferior education, and corrupted infrastructure. So that even if the US wanted to re-industrialize, its labor force would not be up to the job and likely unavailable. China, for example, provides a healthy public infrastructure, affordable housing, good education and healthcare, and convenient transportation and communication. Thus, a Chinese worker's wages and Chinese industry are extensively subsidized by the state. America did the same in the latter half of the 19th century and this enabled it to become the 'workhouse of the world' at the time. But financial capitalism and neoliberalism have created a different country, one seemingly only able to exist by virtue of rent payments from the rest of the world.
Precisely. Hudson and I have chatted about what would actually need to occur for the US to reindustrialize—it would require a complete overhaul of the Federal government and much of the Constitution so as many rents can be collected for public benefit and thus greatly lower the cost of doing business and supporting workers—a 100% smashing of the oligarchy and replacement by genuine democratic governance.
Whatever you think about Trump, his policies and the team that supports these positions - you cannot really argue that they seek to put "America First" and at the expense of other peoples and nations. In that sense then we still have a sort of neo-colonialist approach to the rest of the world and we can already see "bad" behaviour from his regime in respect of breaking treaties, agreements and international law by simple dint of might makes right.
Now if I look at his proposals and actions so far through American eyes I would not really have too many complaints, His internal opponents/enemies might justifiably complain that they are destablising and as such will change the USA's position in the world - possibly for the worse though that is obviously not Mr T's aim. Nevertheless my point here is that we should not be surprised by a USA agenda that seeks to dominate the ROW, albeit using methods and narratives that are perhaps very different from previous administrations - but who also sought to dominate. Plus ca change, rien de change.
One way to manage an empire in decline is to increase its offensive actions using whatever powers it has remaining, which is what we’re seeing. That why Global South solidarity on the dollarized debt issue is critical—if they act in unison, there’s nothing Trump can do.
Western capitalists are delusional. Which makes them irrational. Reality will be a hard pill to swallow.