In a follow up to last night’s breaking news from China’s MOFCOM (Ministry of Commerce), we have another article placed on Guancha that further parses what was said and what ought to be expected.
America needs to learn what Sun Zhu meant by never interrupt your opponent when he keeps digging his own hole. I’m being polite here for Trumps art of the deal is now in the capitulation stage, next stage is declare bankruptcy
Only when he owns the bank! The Trump is so thickskinned or certain of being able to act with impunity that he can reverse course many times never blink. What he needs above all is to be sure someone of strength and insight has his back because there be much scheming going on right now imo. He has likely totally pissed off Peter Thiel and JD Vance but then time will tell if that ever really matters.
As I've commented before regarding the oligarchic factions, take heed, "Don't get in front of the money truck". He's clearly attached to the group that thinks it can continue to syphon off global wealth under some new branding arrangement. He's no more adroit than Harris, so same-same trajectory to disaster for the USS Donald Trump. Those planes falling off aircraft carriers is more than symbolic.
Trump is the personification of being the bully who never got what was coming to him, hopefully that will come to a swift end where he has to eat that humble pie
Hahaha, If only your wish could manifest. Trumpenstein could eat a shit sandwich and smiling declare it the best recipe he has ever invented and sell shares in the recipe. He comes from a long tradition in the usa of snake oil salesman at the fairground, copping every criticism from the crowd and turning out even more sales. Disheartening - yes, unexpected - no. He might succeed in the usa but the rest of the world is reeling in shock at the revelation of a charlatan.
Both Bessent and Trump are very opinionated and hard headed.
That Bessent himself is going shows the importance attached to this US planned tariff misadventure. It is going to take some more damage to get these ijuts (USMC term of endearment from Uncle Sam's Misguided Children) to change course.
At one time, when I was young and full of beans, I thought I knew economics [and politics] pretty well. Now I am older and dummer, I find the whole subject confusing. I can understand how tariffs will encourage US consumers to buy US made products, and over the long term encourage US domestic production. In the short to medium term I cannot see how this will not inflict on the USA a whole host of problems, including inflation and supply chain (ie businesses closing) issues.
There is a theory that the US$ will fall in value off setting the tariffs. I cannot see it. A contraction of the US$ trade volume will lead to a shortage of US$ in the global economy {???} and put its relative rate up. OTOH a medium to long term move away from the US$ will devalue it as less demand will ensue. And then we have the Fed and CtrlP. The $ is strong just now but nothing but hopium seems to me to be keeping it up. But then I would have retired a long time ago if I was any good at predicting forex markets.
I judge right now we are entering unknown territory and the impacts of Trumps efforts to "reindustrialise" the USA (absent say a 5 year plan) will simply cause chaos in world markets. Ham fisted attempts to sanction nations not using the US$ will backfire. Of course I may be wrong - it has been known - but looks to me like the beginning of the end of the US$ as a reserve currency. Long predicted by many other wiser heads than me, but this seems to me to be the point of no return.
Mr T and his team appear to have mistaken a real industrial and economic policy for simple financialisation. Well good luck with trying to fix a problem with the same solution that got you into the mess.
If Trump was shown a horse, saddle, bit, reins, and blanket, I doubt he’d be able to properly rig the animal or properly care for it. Supposedly he understands how to plan since he once built buildings—you have an idea of the type of building, you or someone else draws up the plans, and then you ire the team and buy the materials to build it. To reindustrialize, you need more than just a vision of factories and workers; you need to have a very specific vision of what sorts of factories making what sort of products and employing what sort of workers to supply which markets. Trump has never articulated any of that aside from his general, meaningless, vision. Trump not only doesn’t know how to harness a horse he puts the cart in front of it.
The one good thing Trump could do is fire most of his staff then resign and let Vance try and run the show because there’s no fixing the hole he’s dug other than fill it back in.
If Trump was serious about the welfare of the US then Col. Doug MacGregor would be running all Defence matters. Witkoff appears only one of a semi-competent few, no matter, out of his depth in meetings with Putin and only God knows his Netanyahu stance, but 3 Zionists negotiating among one another makes for not a serious policy for that region.
Not calling on the services of America's top diplomat and all round economic tzar, Jeffrey Sachs, who's geopolitically sound and has participated in assisting Poland, Europe, even Russia in stabilising their economies when the Soviet Union fell.
Trump & handlers are simply drunk on power like all the clowns before him.
So you're OK with Col. Macgregor? Nice of you to say so.!
I could post a tonne of material in Sach's favour, he's comfortably the best placed internationally (Global South incl.) respected American economist, diplomat and much more, warning India to stay clear of US Murder Inc., Speech at the UN/Other Establishments, his vocal attacks on Israel's/West's GENOCIDE . . . get a grip son and quit with the cheap shots.
You're wrong pulling a single snippet out of yesteryear to disparage someone.
Maybe you're happy with the misfits in charge. Good luck with that numb-nuts!
Sach's has seen-the-light & has been doing a meal culpa tour for a few years...CNN as a source? You'd be better-off doin' some psychedelics & readin' tea-leaves.
We all have our limitations, made bad decisions or could've did this or that but MacGregor, today, with Witkoff,(if necessary) speaking directly to Putin and Sachs to Lavrov/Belousov, America could get to the negotiating table sooner rather than after another million deaths and fractured societies.
Neither would've gotten through the Senate so special special Envoys bypassing Deep State/CIA scrutiny.
Larry Wilkerson, Larry Johnson, Scott Ritter, Others, yes even Norman Finkelstein as Ambassador to Israel would be part of the team.
Seems we read the same economics textbooks which are notable for omitting a critical factor in America's 80 year domination of world trade, i.e. military force. The latter was the ultimate tool to enforce Pax Americana. Since the Korean War, the US has dissipated its military strength on various military adventures stating with Vietnam and most recently Afghanistan, all wars the US has lost at incredible cost. Today they are no match for China and Russia, either individually or collectively, frustrating every attempt by the US to waive a big stick to intimidate world into surrendering to America's demands.
Great video! Thanks again. Bessent made his fortune in currency speculation. A Soros guy. Anyone who thinks Trump is fighting the Deep State needs to read Bessent's Wikipedia bio. Looking forward to his grudge match face off with Le Duc Tho, errr I mean He Lifeng. He may be in for a rogering, but given his preferences he may enjoy it.
America will never be able to replace the goods it gets from China from its own companies . America simply hasn't got the workforce to do what the Chinese do. Doesn't matter how long they take. The costs for every American to buy the same goods produced today in China fro American companies in the future. Will be massive compared to Chinese produced goods. Unless Trump let's in tens of millions of migrants who are willing to work in the factories. Because Americans won't unless they're earning big money.
Americans need to make "big money" because of the astronomical cost of living, which is a Hudson mantra. Back in 1980, good pay was $25,000/yr, great was $40,000. Good pay today is $65,000/yr, great is $100,000. Federal minimum wage is $7.25/hr which equals $15,080/yr gross income. Current US poverty level is $15,650 for a single person; thus, working a minimum wage job puts you in poverty. What I get for Social Security puts me just above the poverty line. Here's a map showing each state's minimum wage, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_US_states_by_minimum_wage#/media/File:Map_of_US_minimum_wage_by_state.svg almost half the states.
What the USA now has is a Serfice economy as the goal is to make as many as possible into debt peons since you can't live on the federal minimum wage--net pay monthly is $1,080. Back in 1980 I paid $300/mo for rent.
Unless the cost structure of living in America is massively lowered back to where $25,000/yr is good pay, general manufacturing will never return. Trump of course is part of the group that doesn't want those days to return--they want serfitude.
What worries me the most is how history is being rewritten here in Europe. In the Baltic states, it has become normal for SS veterans to hold parades and be revered. Since it must be assumed that after 80 years, hardly any Baltic SS veterans are still alive—let alone physically capable of marching in parades—it is the children and grandchildren who enthusiastically continue this wretched tradition.
By turning a blind eye to all of this, the entire West can only be seen as having no problem with Nazi ideology. It doesn’t matter whether politicians and oligarchs do this for pragmatic reasons or because they themselves are adherents of this horrific ideology. I believe it’s pragmatism. In the fight against the emergence of a multipolar world, Nazi ideology is a means to an end. That alone is bad enough.
The hatred of everything Russian and Chinese, however, is real. It permeates culture and even ethnology. It’s racism—not just something you can feel, but something that could lead us to nuclear war. Because Russia and China will never submit to the dictates of the West. Not even if the "Global South" and other BRICS countries were to submit again. Because nothing is certain in the coming years and decades. This means, in turn, that the geopolitical confrontation will culminate in a war of victory or defeat. No treaties or temporary phases of détente will change that.
Just as World War II was a continuation of World War I, the perpetual NATO/EU expansion and the war against BRICS are a continuation of the so-called "Cold War."
I feel absolutely no hatred toward anyone—not even toward the mass murderers (in reality, in offices, or in private clubs) of our time. Strangely enough, I lack that feeling entirely. But the greater my concern and, above all, my contempt. Since the "1933 Experiment" began in 2020, I feel like my homeland (in this case, Germany) is being pulled out from under my feet. I am increasingly being made homeless as the German "political-media-oligarchic cartel" uses "Nazism" as a means to an end.
Because the content of my comment is so sensitive and I don't trust machine translation 100%, I'm attaching it in the original German:
———
Das besorgniserregendste für mich ist, wie hier in Europa die Geschichte umgeschrieben wird. In den baltischen Staaten ist es Normalität, dass Veteranen SS Paraden abhalten und verehrt werden. Weil man davon ausgehen muss, dass nach 80 Jahren kaum noch ein baltischer SS-Veteran lebt, geschweige denn physisch dazu in der Lage ist, auf Paraden zu marschieren, sind es die Kinder-und Enkelgenerationen, die diese unselige Tradition begeistert fortführen.
Indem der gesamte Westen dazu beide Augen verschließt, kann man nur schlußfolgern, dass er mit der Ideologie der Nazis kein Problem hat. Dabei spielt es keine Rolle, ob Politiker und Oligarchen das aus pragmatischen Gründen tun, oder ob sie selbst Anhänger dieser schrecklichen Ideologie sind. Ich denke, dass es Pragmatismus ist. Im Kampf gegen die Entstehung einer multipolaren Welt ist die Naziideologie Mittel zum Zweck. Das ist schlimm genug.
Der Hass gegen alles Russische und Chinesische ist dagegen real. Er greift bis in die Kultur und Ethnologie hinein. Es ist Rassismus, den man nicht nur fühlen kann, sondern der uns bis in einen Atomkrieg führen kann. Denn Russland und China werden sich niemals dem Diktat des Westens beugen. Selbst dann nicht, wenn sich der "Globale Süden" und andere BRICS-Länder diesem Diktat wieder unterwerfen. Denn nichts ist in den nächsten Jahren und Jahrzehnten sicher. Das bedeutet im Umkehrschluss, dass die geopolitische Auseinandersetzung in einen Krieg um Sieg oder Niederlage mündet. Daran werden keine Verträge oder temporären Phasen Entspannung etwas ändern.
Wie der 2. Weltkrieg die Fortsetzung des 1. Weltkriegs war, so sind die permanente NATO/EU-Erweiterung und der Krieg gegen die BRICS die Fortsetzung des sogenannten "Kalten Krieges".
Ich fühle absolut keinen Hass gegen irgendwen. Nicht einmal Hass gegen die Massenmörder (in der Tat, oder in den Büros, oder in den Privatclubs) unserer Zeit. Erstaunlicherweise fehlt bei mir dieses Gefühl absolut. Aber um so größer ist meine Besorgnis und vor allem meine Verachtung. Seit dem Experiment: "1933" ab dem Jahr 2020, habe ich das Gefühl, dass mir meine Heimat (in diesem Fall Deutschland) unter den Füßen weggezogen wird. Ich werde immer stärker zum Heimatlosen gemacht, indem das deutsche "politisch-mediale-oligarchische Kartell" sich des "Nazismus" als Mittel zum Zweck bedient.
An excellent essay was published by a Chinese PhD I’ve been slowing reading over the Victory Day Holiday: “Guo Yang: It's time to return the World War II contributions that China and the Soviet Union have stolen from the West over the past 80 years,” who writes this in his conclusion:
As emphasized in the Preamble to the founding of the United Nations, it is the shared responsibility of all the international community to "remember the lessons of history and safeguard world peace". However, the selective dilution and deliberate obscuration of this period of history by the mainstream ideology of the West have affected the international community's recognition of justice and responsibility, victory and sacrifice to varying degrees. Once the historical truth is distorted or even dissolved, it is very easy to shake the legitimacy of the current international order, encourage the rise of extremism, unilateralism and historical revisionism, and threaten the prospects for global peace and development.
Another thought-provoking essay was published by RT. Here’re the links,
In Russia, it is repeatedly stated, and it is the bitter truth: Many European countries fought on the side of Hitler's Wehrmacht. And in other countries, volunteer divisions were formed, which all too often committed the most horrific atrocities against civilians—including in Ukraine and Belarus. We know which tradition today's Nazis in Ukraine uphold. In Estonia, there is even a museum honoring the former Estonian SS murderers, and across the Baltics, their respective Nazi killers are celebrated. Supposedly, this scum fought against Soviet occupiers. But in reality, they primarily wreaked havoc among their own civilian populations. Not a word is mentioned about how the Soviet Union, after 1945, built up industry and agriculture there, as well as the education and healthcare systems.
How many European countries today support the U.S. and the Ukrainian "Nazi proxies" in the war against Russia?
I was very frustrated that Scott Ritter outright labeled "the Germans" as Nazis. I have lived my entire life in Germany, and in everyday life, I have rarely met anyone I would call a Nazi. Yes, lifelong propaganda and the suppression of information have done terrible damage to people's minds across the West. But they are not Nazis.
The next question is: Who has been responsible, since the beginning of the 20th century, for spreading anti-Russian ideology in Ukraine? Especially since the 1950s and 1990s. Whose money, organizations, NGOs, and intelligence agencies were at work?
Who actively prevented economic, scientific, and cultural cooperation between Europe and Russia? And this has been the case since 1871—especially between Germany and Russia. This was openly the Anglo-Saxon axis. Putin offered NATO-Europe a shared economic space from Lisbon to Vladivostok. He even suggested that Russia could become a member of NATO. Who prevented that from becoming reality? Who is responsible for NATO, in breach of its word, relentlessly expanding its military infrastructure toward Russia's borders? In this context, I found the statement of that creature "Rasmussen" particularly cynical when he claimed that Russia was now at NATO's doorstep. He failed to mention that it was not Russia expanding its military westward, but NATO pushing eastward. Who is directly responsible for the hundreds of thousands of dead in Ukraine?
Oh, I don’t mean to exonerate Europeans. But the truth is, Trump would only need to end all U.S. support for the regime there, withdraw from NATO, and pull U.S. military forces—including nuclear weapons—out of Europe to lay the foundation for peace.
Anyone who now claims that Russia would then annex other European countries isn’t thinking deeply. Russia has more land than it can cultivate. Russia has more agricultural land than it can cultivate. Russia has more raw materials and energy resources than it needs. Russia borders five seas or oceans. What Russia lacks is people. Why—and for what purpose—would Russia permanently occupy other European countries with millions of soldiers? Bullshit.
For answers to all these questions, please consult your oligarchs. Throughout human history, it has always been about money and power—including in both World Wars.
I had read both the memoirs of Colonel Wilhelm Adam, the aide-de-camp to Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, about the Battle of Stalingrad, as well as the memoirs of Soviet generals on the largest battles of the Eastern Front. I was only 16 years old at the time. The accounts of the Soviet generals were more technical in nature—no polemics or other flowery digressions. Colonel Wilhelm Adam, on the other hand, also wrote about human suffering and tragedies. But he also described in great detail the tactical and operational developments, as well as the strategic considerations of the German General Staff and Hitler. This then led to the operation in which General Manstein attempted to break the encirclement and how Adam witnessed Field Marshal Paulus surrendering to save the lives of 900,000 soldiers.
In the early 1980s, a German survivor of the Battle of Stalingrad told me that some of his comrades had even eaten their frozen dead comrades—they were so desperate, driven mad by hunger. I could write much more on this topic, but then my comment would become endless.
Yes, the Western Public for the most part is ignorant of their history, although they well know what parts they’re supposed to know. It’s all the other unpublished or suppressed chapters they must learn to understand their genuine lack of freedom. I’ll link to this recent talk by Dr. Hudson who explains something extremely important that’s been buried by the Establishment for centuries that’s an exemplification of just how deep the indoctrination is and the forces responsible, https://michael-hudson.com/2025/05/when-usury-became-doctrine/
Ol' Goethe's aphorism really seems to apply, 200 or so years later, to many/most in Western Liberal Democracies: "None are so hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.".
“For the first time in my memory, foreign investors are not only fleeing U.S. equities but are fleeing U.S. Treasuries. I met with banks last week – banks under our jurisdiction – who said that the international community is putting a risk premium on investments in the United States because of regulatory risk and because they question whether the rule of law that they depend on to execute contracts in the United States will be executed as it will be in European markets where that capital is running to." etc,.
I guess Bessant will be vaguely aware of the circumstances as will China.
Beyond the Trumpenstein echo chamber there might be trouble brewing...
If only the betting shops had the chops to start giving odds on these events, as they have to make a profit they're far more likely to give an accurate picture. My hunch is that Bessent won't do any better than Yellen, or perhaps he can exceed her in doing worse. When ever he's speaking he gives the impression of arrogance and incompetence. The living Peter Principle.
Heavy-handed bullying, threats, sanctions, tariffs, theft of dollar reserves etc. did not work with Russia.
These tactics only harm and isolate American supply chains and will boomerang on Americans causing pain through shortage-induced inflationary pressures in the coming weeks.
Thank you Karl, Trumpenstien uses that word 'capitulation' frequently these days. Methinks he does project too much. The collapse of this charade can't come soon enough for me as there is much karma to be worked out over the past few hundred years.
Regarding your closing paragraph, it is thanks to all those BRICS nations that trade resilience has been formed into a freedom fortress against usa dominance of WTO and illegal sanction coercion. This is now being seen as a mighty good force and I expect many Arican nations will follow that road.
I am sure Bessant and his colleague the lead US trade negotiator will have an enlightening meeting in Europe next week. Then they will have to return to the White House, wade through all the factional blood on the floor, fend off the circling vultures and talk to the boss. That will be much more dangerous than meeting with China
On the usa national security front, I suspect there is a wise voice talking gently to the inner child of DJT. Just a hunch ;)
What did you expect the Chinese representative to say? Did anyone expect him to say --
"Look, we in China have dangerously high youth unemployment; a very successful university education program which is turning out far too many graduates for the jobs available, making those graduates very unhappy; we have other young people "lying flat" and undermining society; our industries are being undercut internationally by countries like India and Vietnam; China has a debt problem that you would not believe; a real estate problem that is making lots of Chinese citizens really angry; and we are very unhappy about having to trade real goods to the US in exchange for nearly-useless freshly-printed IOUs.
Because of all of that, and because we understand the US's Trade Deficit and Budget Deficit are unsustainable, we are willing to talk with the US representative and see if there is some mutually beneficial way of resolving the trade issue before it brings down both China and the US."
Obviously, no one goes into a discussion saying things like that -- although China's problems are just as well known as the US's problems. Hopefully, there can be a mutually beneficial agreement for China to invest in US manufacturing (using some of those IOUs) and even up the trade imbalance through higher US exports.
"... China’s drive toward technological independence has raised alarm bells in the West, where a resurgent China powered by a leading technology industry is widely considered the key strategic challenge of the 21st century. But these fears all too often fail to consider the internal obstacles facing Beijing’s push toward tech supremacy. Among them is one very low-tech problem: a prevailing sense of social and professional stagnation.
The drive toward self-reliance has encountered an unlikely form of resistance in a generation of young Chinese who balk at the Party’s high-minded calls for “continued struggle” alongside an deeply engrained culture of overwork without the promise of real advancement. ..."
"... Owing to China's massive population, the job market across all sectors is extraordinarily competitive. This is particularly evident in the civil service, where approximately 100 candidates vie for a single position. Current statistics indicate that the unemployment rate among young Chinese individuals (aged 16-24) is projected to reach 20.8 percent in 2023. Such high unemployment forces many to accept lower wages in a fiercely competitive labor market. ...
In summary, the 'lying flat' phenomenon is a resistance to the high-pressure, high-competition, and high-consumption lifestyles prevalent in contemporary [Chinese] society. ..."
Surely all of us who are interested in China (and admire its people and their progress) are aware of the "lying flat" phenomenon? And of the Debt, the Real Estate crisis, the high youth unemployment, the increasing international competition? Those problems don't go away if we pretend to ourselves that they do not exist.
"The urban jobless rate for 16-to-24-year-olds, excluding students, grew to 16.9% from 16.1% in January, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
"China stopped reporting data for youth joblessness for months after the unemployment rate for 16-24-year-olds hit a record 21.3% in June 2023. The NBS resumed publishing the closely watched benchmark in December that year, after changing the system to exclude students.17 Apr 2025 [date of article]
China's youth jobless rate dips in March to 16.5% | Reuters"
Where the bottom Line is the title! But that incident, two years previously, is a 'must include' piece - for what reason, one might ask.
Mr. Sanchez -- you are usually fairly objective, albeit you do not hide your biases. Do you mean to say that you have not heard about China's real estate problems? That you are unaware of China's giant debt problem? That you don't know about the "lying flat" issue with young Chinese who never knew the misery of the Mao- and post-Mao years? That you have not read about Chinese companies in some industries "offshoring" manufacturing to other Asian countries and African countries because China's own factories are no longer competitive?
If you are not aware of those real issues, you should broaden your reading!
To be sure, I would much rather we had China's problems today than the challenges facing us throughout the West (not just in the US). Even so, we have to recognize that everyone has problems -- weaknesses as well as strengths. Otherwise, our analysis of what is happening in the world will be seriously wrong.
A reasonable final paragraph. I think you overestimate China's problems both absolutely & certainly relative to "The West", Japan & S. Korea...You fail to quantify & properly qualify the claim of "China's giant debt problem".
Is this sarcasm? Or are you just stupid? China is in no danger of collapsing and literally holds all the cards in a pissing match with the USA which is a train wreck in every way there is.
America needs to learn what Sun Zhu meant by never interrupt your opponent when he keeps digging his own hole. I’m being polite here for Trumps art of the deal is now in the capitulation stage, next stage is declare bankruptcy
Only when he owns the bank! The Trump is so thickskinned or certain of being able to act with impunity that he can reverse course many times never blink. What he needs above all is to be sure someone of strength and insight has his back because there be much scheming going on right now imo. He has likely totally pissed off Peter Thiel and JD Vance but then time will tell if that ever really matters.
As I've commented before regarding the oligarchic factions, take heed, "Don't get in front of the money truck". He's clearly attached to the group that thinks it can continue to syphon off global wealth under some new branding arrangement. He's no more adroit than Harris, so same-same trajectory to disaster for the USS Donald Trump. Those planes falling off aircraft carriers is more than symbolic.
Trump is the personification of being the bully who never got what was coming to him, hopefully that will come to a swift end where he has to eat that humble pie
Hahaha, If only your wish could manifest. Trumpenstein could eat a shit sandwich and smiling declare it the best recipe he has ever invented and sell shares in the recipe. He comes from a long tradition in the usa of snake oil salesman at the fairground, copping every criticism from the crowd and turning out even more sales. Disheartening - yes, unexpected - no. He might succeed in the usa but the rest of the world is reeling in shock at the revelation of a charlatan.
"You'll never go broke underestimating the taste/intelligence of the Murikan Public." !
The Land that brought Pro Wrestling to an astonishing depth of retardation.
That sums it up !
Both Bessent and Trump are very opinionated and hard headed.
That Bessent himself is going shows the importance attached to this US planned tariff misadventure. It is going to take some more damage to get these ijuts (USMC term of endearment from Uncle Sam's Misguided Children) to change course.
Bessent is about as brilliant as a rubber crutch and coupled with his arrogance, he's a train wreck.
He eats Kellogs cereal for breakfast and brain farts all day long.
Is ijuts the same as eejits, meaning idiots in the Scots & Irish vocabulary or completely different?
Sure is.
At one time, when I was young and full of beans, I thought I knew economics [and politics] pretty well. Now I am older and dummer, I find the whole subject confusing. I can understand how tariffs will encourage US consumers to buy US made products, and over the long term encourage US domestic production. In the short to medium term I cannot see how this will not inflict on the USA a whole host of problems, including inflation and supply chain (ie businesses closing) issues.
There is a theory that the US$ will fall in value off setting the tariffs. I cannot see it. A contraction of the US$ trade volume will lead to a shortage of US$ in the global economy {???} and put its relative rate up. OTOH a medium to long term move away from the US$ will devalue it as less demand will ensue. And then we have the Fed and CtrlP. The $ is strong just now but nothing but hopium seems to me to be keeping it up. But then I would have retired a long time ago if I was any good at predicting forex markets.
I judge right now we are entering unknown territory and the impacts of Trumps efforts to "reindustrialise" the USA (absent say a 5 year plan) will simply cause chaos in world markets. Ham fisted attempts to sanction nations not using the US$ will backfire. Of course I may be wrong - it has been known - but looks to me like the beginning of the end of the US$ as a reserve currency. Long predicted by many other wiser heads than me, but this seems to me to be the point of no return.
Mr T and his team appear to have mistaken a real industrial and economic policy for simple financialisation. Well good luck with trying to fix a problem with the same solution that got you into the mess.
If Trump was shown a horse, saddle, bit, reins, and blanket, I doubt he’d be able to properly rig the animal or properly care for it. Supposedly he understands how to plan since he once built buildings—you have an idea of the type of building, you or someone else draws up the plans, and then you ire the team and buy the materials to build it. To reindustrialize, you need more than just a vision of factories and workers; you need to have a very specific vision of what sorts of factories making what sort of products and employing what sort of workers to supply which markets. Trump has never articulated any of that aside from his general, meaningless, vision. Trump not only doesn’t know how to harness a horse he puts the cart in front of it.
The one good thing Trump could do is fire most of his staff then resign and let Vance try and run the show because there’s no fixing the hole he’s dug other than fill it back in.
If Trump was serious about the welfare of the US then Col. Doug MacGregor would be running all Defence matters. Witkoff appears only one of a semi-competent few, no matter, out of his depth in meetings with Putin and only God knows his Netanyahu stance, but 3 Zionists negotiating among one another makes for not a serious policy for that region.
Not calling on the services of America's top diplomat and all round economic tzar, Jeffrey Sachs, who's geopolitically sound and has participated in assisting Poland, Europe, even Russia in stabilising their economies when the Soviet Union fell.
Trump & handlers are simply drunk on power like all the clowns before him.
Calling what Sachs and the Harvard Boys did to Russia in the 90's "stabilizing their economy" is laugh.
So you're OK with Col. Macgregor? Nice of you to say so.!
I could post a tonne of material in Sach's favour, he's comfortably the best placed internationally (Global South incl.) respected American economist, diplomat and much more, warning India to stay clear of US Murder Inc., Speech at the UN/Other Establishments, his vocal attacks on Israel's/West's GENOCIDE . . . get a grip son and quit with the cheap shots.
You're wrong pulling a single snippet out of yesteryear to disparage someone.
Maybe you're happy with the misfits in charge. Good luck with that numb-nuts!
Sachs was also calling Trumps impeachment not so long ago for 'Russia election interference'.
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/04/20/opinions/mueller-report-trump-congress-initiate-impeachment-sachs/index.html
Sach's has seen-the-light & has been doing a meal culpa tour for a few years...CNN as a source? You'd be better-off doin' some psychedelics & readin' tea-leaves.
CNN isn't the source, it's the platform Sachs used...the article is literally by him.
MacGregor should sit at Wilkerson's knee & absorb a bit of knowledge.
MacGregor does NOT know the diff between fascism & communism.
We all have our limitations, made bad decisions or could've did this or that but MacGregor, today, with Witkoff,(if necessary) speaking directly to Putin and Sachs to Lavrov/Belousov, America could get to the negotiating table sooner rather than after another million deaths and fractured societies.
Neither would've gotten through the Senate so special special Envoys bypassing Deep State/CIA scrutiny.
Larry Wilkerson, Larry Johnson, Scott Ritter, Others, yes even Norman Finkelstein as Ambassador to Israel would be part of the team.
Seems we read the same economics textbooks which are notable for omitting a critical factor in America's 80 year domination of world trade, i.e. military force. The latter was the ultimate tool to enforce Pax Americana. Since the Korean War, the US has dissipated its military strength on various military adventures stating with Vietnam and most recently Afghanistan, all wars the US has lost at incredible cost. Today they are no match for China and Russia, either individually or collectively, frustrating every attempt by the US to waive a big stick to intimidate world into surrendering to America's demands.
Great video! Thanks again. Bessent made his fortune in currency speculation. A Soros guy. Anyone who thinks Trump is fighting the Deep State needs to read Bessent's Wikipedia bio. Looking forward to his grudge match face off with Le Duc Tho, errr I mean He Lifeng. He may be in for a rogering, but given his preferences he may enjoy it.
My compatriot Roger Boyd recently devoted an entire substack article to a Bessent take-down.
Thanks. I'll check it out,
America will never be able to replace the goods it gets from China from its own companies . America simply hasn't got the workforce to do what the Chinese do. Doesn't matter how long they take. The costs for every American to buy the same goods produced today in China fro American companies in the future. Will be massive compared to Chinese produced goods. Unless Trump let's in tens of millions of migrants who are willing to work in the factories. Because Americans won't unless they're earning big money.
Americans need to make "big money" because of the astronomical cost of living, which is a Hudson mantra. Back in 1980, good pay was $25,000/yr, great was $40,000. Good pay today is $65,000/yr, great is $100,000. Federal minimum wage is $7.25/hr which equals $15,080/yr gross income. Current US poverty level is $15,650 for a single person; thus, working a minimum wage job puts you in poverty. What I get for Social Security puts me just above the poverty line. Here's a map showing each state's minimum wage, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_US_states_by_minimum_wage#/media/File:Map_of_US_minimum_wage_by_state.svg almost half the states.
What the USA now has is a Serfice economy as the goal is to make as many as possible into debt peons since you can't live on the federal minimum wage--net pay monthly is $1,080. Back in 1980 I paid $300/mo for rent.
Unless the cost structure of living in America is massively lowered back to where $25,000/yr is good pay, general manufacturing will never return. Trump of course is part of the group that doesn't want those days to return--they want serfitude.
$25k is the wine bill for a Banker's lunch.
1000 up votes!
Murika will obviously let/coerce their vassals south of the Rio Grande to slave-away producing the cheap-shit.
That was the Plan 30 years ago, too. China was much better @ it.
What worries me the most is how history is being rewritten here in Europe. In the Baltic states, it has become normal for SS veterans to hold parades and be revered. Since it must be assumed that after 80 years, hardly any Baltic SS veterans are still alive—let alone physically capable of marching in parades—it is the children and grandchildren who enthusiastically continue this wretched tradition.
By turning a blind eye to all of this, the entire West can only be seen as having no problem with Nazi ideology. It doesn’t matter whether politicians and oligarchs do this for pragmatic reasons or because they themselves are adherents of this horrific ideology. I believe it’s pragmatism. In the fight against the emergence of a multipolar world, Nazi ideology is a means to an end. That alone is bad enough.
The hatred of everything Russian and Chinese, however, is real. It permeates culture and even ethnology. It’s racism—not just something you can feel, but something that could lead us to nuclear war. Because Russia and China will never submit to the dictates of the West. Not even if the "Global South" and other BRICS countries were to submit again. Because nothing is certain in the coming years and decades. This means, in turn, that the geopolitical confrontation will culminate in a war of victory or defeat. No treaties or temporary phases of détente will change that.
Just as World War II was a continuation of World War I, the perpetual NATO/EU expansion and the war against BRICS are a continuation of the so-called "Cold War."
I feel absolutely no hatred toward anyone—not even toward the mass murderers (in reality, in offices, or in private clubs) of our time. Strangely enough, I lack that feeling entirely. But the greater my concern and, above all, my contempt. Since the "1933 Experiment" began in 2020, I feel like my homeland (in this case, Germany) is being pulled out from under my feet. I am increasingly being made homeless as the German "political-media-oligarchic cartel" uses "Nazism" as a means to an end.
Because the content of my comment is so sensitive and I don't trust machine translation 100%, I'm attaching it in the original German:
———
Das besorgniserregendste für mich ist, wie hier in Europa die Geschichte umgeschrieben wird. In den baltischen Staaten ist es Normalität, dass Veteranen SS Paraden abhalten und verehrt werden. Weil man davon ausgehen muss, dass nach 80 Jahren kaum noch ein baltischer SS-Veteran lebt, geschweige denn physisch dazu in der Lage ist, auf Paraden zu marschieren, sind es die Kinder-und Enkelgenerationen, die diese unselige Tradition begeistert fortführen.
Indem der gesamte Westen dazu beide Augen verschließt, kann man nur schlußfolgern, dass er mit der Ideologie der Nazis kein Problem hat. Dabei spielt es keine Rolle, ob Politiker und Oligarchen das aus pragmatischen Gründen tun, oder ob sie selbst Anhänger dieser schrecklichen Ideologie sind. Ich denke, dass es Pragmatismus ist. Im Kampf gegen die Entstehung einer multipolaren Welt ist die Naziideologie Mittel zum Zweck. Das ist schlimm genug.
Der Hass gegen alles Russische und Chinesische ist dagegen real. Er greift bis in die Kultur und Ethnologie hinein. Es ist Rassismus, den man nicht nur fühlen kann, sondern der uns bis in einen Atomkrieg führen kann. Denn Russland und China werden sich niemals dem Diktat des Westens beugen. Selbst dann nicht, wenn sich der "Globale Süden" und andere BRICS-Länder diesem Diktat wieder unterwerfen. Denn nichts ist in den nächsten Jahren und Jahrzehnten sicher. Das bedeutet im Umkehrschluss, dass die geopolitische Auseinandersetzung in einen Krieg um Sieg oder Niederlage mündet. Daran werden keine Verträge oder temporären Phasen Entspannung etwas ändern.
Wie der 2. Weltkrieg die Fortsetzung des 1. Weltkriegs war, so sind die permanente NATO/EU-Erweiterung und der Krieg gegen die BRICS die Fortsetzung des sogenannten "Kalten Krieges".
Ich fühle absolut keinen Hass gegen irgendwen. Nicht einmal Hass gegen die Massenmörder (in der Tat, oder in den Büros, oder in den Privatclubs) unserer Zeit. Erstaunlicherweise fehlt bei mir dieses Gefühl absolut. Aber um so größer ist meine Besorgnis und vor allem meine Verachtung. Seit dem Experiment: "1933" ab dem Jahr 2020, habe ich das Gefühl, dass mir meine Heimat (in diesem Fall Deutschland) unter den Füßen weggezogen wird. Ich werde immer stärker zum Heimatlosen gemacht, indem das deutsche "politisch-mediale-oligarchische Kartell" sich des "Nazismus" als Mittel zum Zweck bedient.
An excellent essay was published by a Chinese PhD I’ve been slowing reading over the Victory Day Holiday: “Guo Yang: It's time to return the World War II contributions that China and the Soviet Union have stolen from the West over the past 80 years,” who writes this in his conclusion:
As emphasized in the Preamble to the founding of the United Nations, it is the shared responsibility of all the international community to "remember the lessons of history and safeguard world peace". However, the selective dilution and deliberate obscuration of this period of history by the mainstream ideology of the West have affected the international community's recognition of justice and responsibility, victory and sacrifice to varying degrees. Once the historical truth is distorted or even dissolved, it is very easy to shake the legitimacy of the current international order, encourage the rise of extremism, unilateralism and historical revisionism, and threaten the prospects for global peace and development.
Another thought-provoking essay was published by RT. Here’re the links,
https://www.guancha.cn/guoyang2/2025_05_10_775270_s.shtml
https://www.rt.com/africa/617168-from-stalingrad-to-lusaka-victory/
In Russia, it is repeatedly stated, and it is the bitter truth: Many European countries fought on the side of Hitler's Wehrmacht. And in other countries, volunteer divisions were formed, which all too often committed the most horrific atrocities against civilians—including in Ukraine and Belarus. We know which tradition today's Nazis in Ukraine uphold. In Estonia, there is even a museum honoring the former Estonian SS murderers, and across the Baltics, their respective Nazi killers are celebrated. Supposedly, this scum fought against Soviet occupiers. But in reality, they primarily wreaked havoc among their own civilian populations. Not a word is mentioned about how the Soviet Union, after 1945, built up industry and agriculture there, as well as the education and healthcare systems.
How many European countries today support the U.S. and the Ukrainian "Nazi proxies" in the war against Russia?
I was very frustrated that Scott Ritter outright labeled "the Germans" as Nazis. I have lived my entire life in Germany, and in everyday life, I have rarely met anyone I would call a Nazi. Yes, lifelong propaganda and the suppression of information have done terrible damage to people's minds across the West. But they are not Nazis.
The next question is: Who has been responsible, since the beginning of the 20th century, for spreading anti-Russian ideology in Ukraine? Especially since the 1950s and 1990s. Whose money, organizations, NGOs, and intelligence agencies were at work?
Who actively prevented economic, scientific, and cultural cooperation between Europe and Russia? And this has been the case since 1871—especially between Germany and Russia. This was openly the Anglo-Saxon axis. Putin offered NATO-Europe a shared economic space from Lisbon to Vladivostok. He even suggested that Russia could become a member of NATO. Who prevented that from becoming reality? Who is responsible for NATO, in breach of its word, relentlessly expanding its military infrastructure toward Russia's borders? In this context, I found the statement of that creature "Rasmussen" particularly cynical when he claimed that Russia was now at NATO's doorstep. He failed to mention that it was not Russia expanding its military westward, but NATO pushing eastward. Who is directly responsible for the hundreds of thousands of dead in Ukraine?
Oh, I don’t mean to exonerate Europeans. But the truth is, Trump would only need to end all U.S. support for the regime there, withdraw from NATO, and pull U.S. military forces—including nuclear weapons—out of Europe to lay the foundation for peace.
Anyone who now claims that Russia would then annex other European countries isn’t thinking deeply. Russia has more land than it can cultivate. Russia has more agricultural land than it can cultivate. Russia has more raw materials and energy resources than it needs. Russia borders five seas or oceans. What Russia lacks is people. Why—and for what purpose—would Russia permanently occupy other European countries with millions of soldiers? Bullshit.
For answers to all these questions, please consult your oligarchs. Throughout human history, it has always been about money and power—including in both World Wars.
I had read both the memoirs of Colonel Wilhelm Adam, the aide-de-camp to Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus, about the Battle of Stalingrad, as well as the memoirs of Soviet generals on the largest battles of the Eastern Front. I was only 16 years old at the time. The accounts of the Soviet generals were more technical in nature—no polemics or other flowery digressions. Colonel Wilhelm Adam, on the other hand, also wrote about human suffering and tragedies. But he also described in great detail the tactical and operational developments, as well as the strategic considerations of the German General Staff and Hitler. This then led to the operation in which General Manstein attempted to break the encirclement and how Adam witnessed Field Marshal Paulus surrendering to save the lives of 900,000 soldiers.
In the early 1980s, a German survivor of the Battle of Stalingrad told me that some of his comrades had even eaten their frozen dead comrades—they were so desperate, driven mad by hunger. I could write much more on this topic, but then my comment would become endless.
Yes, the Western Public for the most part is ignorant of their history, although they well know what parts they’re supposed to know. It’s all the other unpublished or suppressed chapters they must learn to understand their genuine lack of freedom. I’ll link to this recent talk by Dr. Hudson who explains something extremely important that’s been buried by the Establishment for centuries that’s an exemplification of just how deep the indoctrination is and the forces responsible, https://michael-hudson.com/2025/05/when-usury-became-doctrine/
Ol' Goethe's aphorism really seems to apply, 200 or so years later, to many/most in Western Liberal Democracies: "None are so hopelessly enslaved than those who falsely believe they are free.".
Meanwhile back at the wall street on parade:
“For the first time in my memory, foreign investors are not only fleeing U.S. equities but are fleeing U.S. Treasuries. I met with banks last week – banks under our jurisdiction – who said that the international community is putting a risk premium on investments in the United States because of regulatory risk and because they question whether the rule of law that they depend on to execute contracts in the United States will be executed as it will be in European markets where that capital is running to." etc,.
I guess Bessant will be vaguely aware of the circumstances as will China.
Beyond the Trumpenstein echo chamber there might be trouble brewing...
https://wallstreetonparade.com/2025/05/congressman-casten-trumps-assault-on-the-rule-of-law-is-causing-capital-flight-out-of-u-s-by-foreign-investors/
Great site that husband & wife team have.
I've listened to Bessent's language, very similar to Kellogg who Russia traded for Witkoff.
American diplomacy has been an oxymoron for many decades, at least post Reagan that I know of.
Still, international diplomacy is difficult when you're accustomed/proficient to/in the dark-arts of gunboat diplomacy.
Since Prez Teddy. Ask Major-General Smedley Butler.
Good article! Thanks, Karl.
If only the betting shops had the chops to start giving odds on these events, as they have to make a profit they're far more likely to give an accurate picture. My hunch is that Bessent won't do any better than Yellen, or perhaps he can exceed her in doing worse. When ever he's speaking he gives the impression of arrogance and incompetence. The living Peter Principle.
Heavy-handed bullying, threats, sanctions, tariffs, theft of dollar reserves etc. did not work with Russia.
These tactics only harm and isolate American supply chains and will boomerang on Americans causing pain through shortage-induced inflationary pressures in the coming weeks.
Thank you Karl, Trumpenstien uses that word 'capitulation' frequently these days. Methinks he does project too much. The collapse of this charade can't come soon enough for me as there is much karma to be worked out over the past few hundred years.
Regarding your closing paragraph, it is thanks to all those BRICS nations that trade resilience has been formed into a freedom fortress against usa dominance of WTO and illegal sanction coercion. This is now being seen as a mighty good force and I expect many Arican nations will follow that road.
I am sure Bessant and his colleague the lead US trade negotiator will have an enlightening meeting in Europe next week. Then they will have to return to the White House, wade through all the factional blood on the floor, fend off the circling vultures and talk to the boss. That will be much more dangerous than meeting with China
On the usa national security front, I suspect there is a wise voice talking gently to the inner child of DJT. Just a hunch ;)
What did you expect the Chinese representative to say? Did anyone expect him to say --
"Look, we in China have dangerously high youth unemployment; a very successful university education program which is turning out far too many graduates for the jobs available, making those graduates very unhappy; we have other young people "lying flat" and undermining society; our industries are being undercut internationally by countries like India and Vietnam; China has a debt problem that you would not believe; a real estate problem that is making lots of Chinese citizens really angry; and we are very unhappy about having to trade real goods to the US in exchange for nearly-useless freshly-printed IOUs.
Because of all of that, and because we understand the US's Trade Deficit and Budget Deficit are unsustainable, we are willing to talk with the US representative and see if there is some mutually beneficial way of resolving the trade issue before it brings down both China and the US."
Obviously, no one goes into a discussion saying things like that -- although China's problems are just as well known as the US's problems. Hopefully, there can be a mutually beneficial agreement for China to invest in US manufacturing (using some of those IOUs) and even up the trade imbalance through higher US exports.
Some credible sources to back your assertions would help your cause.
He's probing one of his orifices to try to find them.
Let's just pick on one of those items which apparently has escaped our host's attention -- young Chinese opting out and "lying flat".
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-lying-flat-movement-standing-in-the-way-of-chinas-innovation-drive/
"... China’s drive toward technological independence has raised alarm bells in the West, where a resurgent China powered by a leading technology industry is widely considered the key strategic challenge of the 21st century. But these fears all too often fail to consider the internal obstacles facing Beijing’s push toward tech supremacy. Among them is one very low-tech problem: a prevailing sense of social and professional stagnation.
The drive toward self-reliance has encountered an unlikely form of resistance in a generation of young Chinese who balk at the Party’s high-minded calls for “continued struggle” alongside an deeply engrained culture of overwork without the promise of real advancement. ..."
Or take a psychological view:
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-human-identity/202307/the-phenomenon-of-lying-flat-among-chinese-youth
"... Owing to China's massive population, the job market across all sectors is extraordinarily competitive. This is particularly evident in the civil service, where approximately 100 candidates vie for a single position. Current statistics indicate that the unemployment rate among young Chinese individuals (aged 16-24) is projected to reach 20.8 percent in 2023. Such high unemployment forces many to accept lower wages in a fiercely competitive labor market. ...
In summary, the 'lying flat' phenomenon is a resistance to the high-pressure, high-competition, and high-consumption lifestyles prevalent in contemporary [Chinese] society. ..."
Surely all of us who are interested in China (and admire its people and their progress) are aware of the "lying flat" phenomenon? And of the Debt, the Real Estate crisis, the high youth unemployment, the increasing international competition? Those problems don't go away if we pretend to ourselves that they do not exist.
Brookings...HAHAHAHA!
"Lying Flat" phenom that you describe has hit every1 else, & harder, already. Look @ Japan.
Look @ Murika !!!
"The urban jobless rate for 16-to-24-year-olds, excluding students, grew to 16.9% from 16.1% in January, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
Lesley MillerbyLesley Miller
March 20, 2025 "
https://allwork.space/2025/03/chinas-youth-jobless-rate-rises-again/#:~:text=The%20urban%20jobless%20rate%20for%2016%2Dto%2D24%2Dyear%2Dolds%2C%20excluding,data%20from%20the%20National%20Bureau%20of%20Statistics.&text=China%20stopped%20reporting%20the%20data%20for%20youth,hit%20a%20record%2021.3%%20in%20June%202023.
Or
"China stopped reporting data for youth joblessness for months after the unemployment rate for 16-24-year-olds hit a record 21.3% in June 2023. The NBS resumed publishing the closely watched benchmark in December that year, after changing the system to exclude students.17 Apr 2025 [date of article]
China's youth jobless rate dips in March to 16.5% | Reuters"
Where the bottom Line is the title! But that incident, two years previously, is a 'must include' piece - for what reason, one might ask.
https://www.reuters.com/world/china/chinas-youth-jobless-rate-dips-march-165-2025-04-17/
Mr. Sanchez -- you are usually fairly objective, albeit you do not hide your biases. Do you mean to say that you have not heard about China's real estate problems? That you are unaware of China's giant debt problem? That you don't know about the "lying flat" issue with young Chinese who never knew the misery of the Mao- and post-Mao years? That you have not read about Chinese companies in some industries "offshoring" manufacturing to other Asian countries and African countries because China's own factories are no longer competitive?
If you are not aware of those real issues, you should broaden your reading!
To be sure, I would much rather we had China's problems today than the challenges facing us throughout the West (not just in the US). Even so, we have to recognize that everyone has problems -- weaknesses as well as strengths. Otherwise, our analysis of what is happening in the world will be seriously wrong.
A reasonable final paragraph. I think you overestimate China's problems both absolutely & certainly relative to "The West", Japan & S. Korea...You fail to quantify & properly qualify the claim of "China's giant debt problem".
Is this sarcasm? Or are you just stupid? China is in no danger of collapsing and literally holds all the cards in a pissing match with the USA which is a train wreck in every way there is.
Forgive him comrade, he was one of the two little boys forced to play with Rolf Harris's Didgeridoo.
🤣🤣🤣🤣
Normal Ozzie fun ?