Trump’s trade war: The world will get poorer — and the US especially

The United States is about to plunge into recession, pulling much of the world down with it. The tariffs announced by President Donald Trump on April 2 will reverse decades of rising wealth based on specialization and exchange, based on little more than his unfocused feelings.

Announcing his new rates, the president claimed they were reciprocal. But the tariffs supposedly levied by foreign countries were invented. Any system that calculates protectionist Brazil and free-trade Singapore as both imposing a tariff equivalent to 10% is too preposterous to merit serious refutation. O judgment, thou art fled to brutish beasts.

Then again, this was never about judgment. It is about one man’s ability to channel the unfocused anger that can be found in any electorate at any

Continue reading