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So it's up to the USA to take a hit and fix the balance? I call BS on that. Seems extremely dumb, just like everything else I've seen coming out of the current

So it's up to the USA to take a hit and fix the balance? I call BS on that. Seems extremely dumb, just like everything else I've seen coming out of the current admin. Biggest self own I've ever seen.

AnimalMuppet 1y ago
The US was also taking hits from the imbalance. The GP lists several. Mind you, I'm not saying whether trying to rebalance is smart or dumb. I'm just saying that the imbalance causes us problems too.
corimaith 1y ago
>So it's up to the USA to take a hit and fix the balance? https://www.brookings.edu/articles/rebalancing-the-world-economy-right-idea-but-wrong-approach/ https://www.brookings.edu/articles/rebalancing-the-world-eco... It's better to say that rebalancing is a painful affair. But account balances should be naturally self-balancing in the first place, the imbalance today is the result of policies that the surplus nations, China foremost, is unwilling to abandon easily. If they all opened up their capital markets, currency controls and removed subsidies and tariffs, if they seriously committed themselves to free trade the problem would solve itself in time. And most economists would agree with me on that. But if they are unwilling to do that, and the last 20 years of negotiation have been fruitless, then unfortunately America may need to resort to unilateral actions to resolve it themselves. And if you run the simulations, America will win that fight for escalation. It will hurt for us all, but inflation is nothing compared to the mass unemployment surplus nations will suffer. I don't paticularly agree with Trump's methods or his flip-flop execution in attempting to resolve the problem, but it is a problem that many would agree needs to be resolved. China, Europe all themselves have agreed now that they need to raise consumption instead of doubling down on manufacturing, and that's very much convergent with what the Administration seeks to achieve overall.
- jaybrendansmith 1y ago
  I don't believe people need or want this to be 'resolved'. That is a false choice. This imbalance is unhealthy but was working largely in our favor. Any anything that can survive for 20 years can persist forever. China has a problem: They need to continually improve the lives of their people to stay in power and/or to avoid resorting to unpleasantness to stay in control. Their solution is to fund this imbalance. In any case, I don't understand why people believe any of these tariffs are in good faith. They are clearly a means to unilaterally punish some nations and reward others in exchange for ... something. They are also a way to inflict economic hardships by instituting a regressive tax on all Americans. The game here has nothing to do with what's best for the American people. It's what's best for the oligarchs, and Trump. And what's the best way to consolidate power, punish enemies, reward friends, and in general destroy the current economic order, the American middle class, the meritocracy, and what remains of democracy.

So it's up to the USA to take a hit and fix the balance? I call BS on that. Seems extremely dumb, just like everything else I've seen coming out of the current admin. Biggest self own I've ever seen.

AnimalMuppet 1y ago

The US was also taking hits from the imbalance. The GP lists several. Mind you, I'm not saying whether trying to rebalance is smart or dumb. I'm just saying that the imbalance causes us problems too.

corimaith 1y ago

>So it's up to the USA to take a hit and fix the balance? https://www.brookings.edu/articles/rebalancing-the-world-economy-right-idea-but-wrong-approach/ https://www.brookings.edu/articles/rebalancing-the-world-eco... It's better to say that rebalancing is a painful affair. But account balances should be naturally self-balancing in the first place, the imbalance today is the result of policies that the surplus nations, China foremost, is unwilling to abandon easily. If they all opened up their capital markets, currency controls and removed subsidies and tariffs, if they seriously committed themselves to free trade the problem would solve itself in time. And most economists would agree with me on that. But if they are unwilling to do that, and the last 20 years of negotiation have been fruitless, then unfortunately America may need to resort to unilateral actions to resolve it themselves. And if you run the simulations, America will win that fight for escalation. It will hurt for us all, but inflation is nothing compared to the mass unemployment surplus nations will suffer. I don't paticularly agree with Trump's methods or his flip-flop execution in attempting to resolve the problem, but it is a problem that many would agree needs to be resolved. China, Europe all themselves have agreed now that they need to raise consumption instead of doubling down on manufacturing, and that's very much convergent with what the Administration seeks to achieve overall.

jaybrendansmith 1y ago
I don't believe people need or want this to be 'resolved'. That is a false choice. This imbalance is unhealthy but was working largely in our favor. Any anything that can survive for 20 years can persist forever. China has a problem: They need to continually improve the lives of their people to stay in power and/or to avoid resorting to unpleasantness to stay in control. Their solution is to fund this imbalance. In any case, I don't understand why people believe any of these tariffs are in good faith. They are clearly a means to unilaterally punish some nations and reward others in exchange for ... something. They are also a way to inflict economic hardships by instituting a regressive tax on all Americans. The game here has nothing to do with what's best for the American people. It's what's best for the oligarchs, and Trump. And what's the best way to consolidate power, punish enemies, reward friends, and in general destroy the current economic order, the American middle class, the meritocracy, and what remains of democracy.