Xi Will Probably Beat Trump in a Trade War
President Trump has tweeted that the U.S. can win a trade war with China. China’s President Xi, on the other hand, has said that nobody […]
The Limits of Bluster Diplomacy
The potential U.S.-China trade war seems to be paused this week. The reasons are numerous. Certainly part of the story is the immense pushback from […]
The Global Crisis in Trade . . . Theory
Sometimes words fail us. Sometimes theories do too. We are currently headed into an unprecedented crisis in the world trading system that is not simply […]
The Stakes of the Korea Summits
The leaders of the two Korean states meet this week for only the third time since Korea was divided in the aftermath of World War […]
Breakthrough on the Korean Peninsula?
There has been a broad media consensus that Donald Trump’s major foreign policy initiatives are all stalled. His tariff threats against China have not induced major Chinese […]
Why Trump is Serious About a Trade War with China
There are two major views about President Trump’s approach to trade. The cynical view from much of the business community is that his bark is […]
Trajectory of the U.S.-China Trade Impasse
The U.S. and China are headed for a trade conflict that may rattle the entire world economy. Both Presidents Xi Jinping and Donald Trump are […]
China’s Constrained Military
Recently China announced an 8.1% rise in military spending for its 2018 budget. This is the largest increase in several years, but it represents continuity […]
Capital Confusion
Neoclassical economics, the brand featured in standard textbooks, has been mired in conceptual confusion since its founding almost a century and a half ago. It […]
Trickle Down or Bubble Up?
The recent passage by Congress of the Republican Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 brings back the age-old argument about whether most people benefit […]
Power Dynamics of a U.S.-China Trade War
As President Donald Trump travels through Asia he seems, on the surface at least, to be placated by the flattering treatment he receives from world […]
Political Realism and Private Power
My corporatist approach is far more useful than the standard realist and liberal theories that inform most mainstream commentators in considering a potential U.S.-China trade […]
A Possible U.S.-China Trade War
The media is paying little attention to the possibility of a U.S.-China trade war in the near future, despite the fact that President Donald Trump […]
Who is Misbehaving?
The Nobel Memorial Prize in economics for 2017, recently announced, will be awarded to Richard Thaler of the University of Chicago. Thaler’s field, behavioral economics, […]
Debt Dualism
Since the beginning of this blog series, I have emphasized how much the polarization of political economy is rooted in debt. One the one hand, […]
Borrow and Spend
The U.S. Republican Party, having failed to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act, has now turned to another important but divisive issue: taxes. President […]