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Curated by Project Syndicate

Trump, Trade, and China

100 commentaries

The biggest cloud hanging over the world economy is the incipient trade war with China launched by US President Donald Trump. But with America’s closest allies rejecting Trump's protectionism, can the US really afford to go it alone?

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  1. Trump’s Backward March on Trade
    krueger23_Joshua LottGetty Images_trumpmagahat Joshua Lott/Getty Images

    Trump’s Backward March on Trade

    Jan 20, 2020 Anne O. Krueger argues that America has been the biggest loser after two years of protectionism and free-wheeling sanctions.

  2. Why a Cool War May Be Worse than a Cold One
    sheng95_narvikk Getty Images_chinaustradewarshipping narvikk/Getty Images

    Why a Cool War May Be Worse than a Cold One

    Jan 2, 2020 Andrew Sheng & Xiao Geng warn that in the current struggle between the US and China, both sides could end up losing.

  3. The Case for Old-Fashioned Tariff Cuts
    frankel105_5m3photosGettyImages_tradeshippingcontainer 5m3photos/Getty Images

    The Case for Old-Fashioned Tariff Cuts

    Nov 27, 2019 Jeffrey Frankel says modest-sounding trade policies focusing on “shallow integration” could produce significant benefits.

  4. After the US-China Trade War
    roach109_JOHANNES EISELEAFP via Getty Images_USstockmarkettrader Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images

    After the US-China Trade War

    Nov 25, 2019 Stephen S. Roach says that, truce or not, a protracted economic struggle between the US and China has already begun.

  5. How to Get Past the US-China Trade War
    rodrik166_STRAFP via Getty Images_chinatradeshippingboat STR/AFP/Getty Images

    How to Get Past the US-China Trade War

    Nov 7, 2019 Dani Rodrik proposes a framework that would allow both countries to maintain their own economic model.

  6. China Adjusts to the New World Order
    sheng93_Kevin FrayerGetty Images_china70thwomanflag Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

    China Adjusts to the New World Order

    Oct 28, 2019 Andrew Sheng & Xiao Geng show that the country is in a position not only to survive US protectionism, but to thrive in spite of it.

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    Anders Fogh Rasmussen warns that Azerbaijan may be preparing to renew its military aggression against neighboring Armenia.
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    Let the Banks Burn

    Yanis Varoufakis

    The banking system we take for granted is unfixable. The good news is that we no longer need to rely on any private, rent-seeking, socially destabilizing network of banks, at least not the way we have so far.

     shows why the current private system is unfixable – and why we don’t need to tolerate it anymore.
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    How China Benefits from Another US Banking Crisis

    Stephen S. Roach thinks America’s latest financial trouble will reinforce a narrative of terminal national decline.
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    Xi Jinping’s Chinese Tragedy

    Orville Schell interviewed by Irena Grudzińska Gross

    Like Vladimir Putin, China's leader is so steeped in a narrative of victimhood and fearful of appearing weak that it is hard to imagine him ever leading China out of the mess he has created. He could well be remembered as the leader who squandered history's most remarkable economic success story.

     about the country's increasingly worrisome trajectory, both at home and abroad.
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    Artificial Idiocy

    Slavoj Žižek fears that the rise of powerful chatbots will spell the death of irony and nuance in human thought.
  6. kabubomariara1_Per-Anders Pettersson Contributor Getty Images_research africa Per-Anders Pettersson / Contributor Getty Images
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    Localizing Development Research

    Julia Kaufman & Jane Wanjiku Mariara explain why funders should be providing more long-term resources to researchers in developing countries.
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    The Simplest Fix for Banking

    Jan Eeckhout explains how central bank digital currencies would end bank runs and banks' excessive risk-taking.
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    America’s Interest in Ending the Ukraine Crisis

    Brahma Chellaney explains why prolonging the conflict risks realizing the West’s worst geopolitical nightmare.
  9. krueger61_Tom WilliamsCQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images_Intelsemicronductors Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
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    America’s Industrial Policy Is Counterproductive

    Anne O. Krueger laments that the Biden administration is adding red tape to an inefficient subsidy program.

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