𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡­𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞
𝐶ℎ𝑟𝑖𝑠 𝑀𝑢𝑟𝑝ℎ𝑦 𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑖𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑗𝑢𝑛𝑖𝑜𝑟 𝑈𝑆 𝑠𝑒𝑛­𝑎𝑡𝑜𝑟 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝐶𝑜𝑛­𝑛𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖­𝑐𝑢𝑡

Eco­nom­ists and pun­dits have spent the last two weeks frantic­ally try­ing to decode what Pres­id­ent Don­ald Trump’s ulti­mate aim is with tar­iffs. Last week’s spec­tac­u­lar flip-flop, in which he paused the major­ity of them for 90 days, came after the White House had spent days insist­ing the tar­iffs were not up for nego­ti­ation but were instead a longterm strategy to help revital­ise the US indus­trial base and bring back jobs. However, there is a simple reason Trump’s short­lived tar­iffs make little eco­nomic sense: they are not designed as eco­nomic policy but as a means to com­pel loy­alty to the pres­id­ent.

The Financial Times (GIFT LINK)

https://ft.pressreader.com/article/281814289706841