The Free Ride of the Creditors
August 10, 2026The global trading system does not penalise surpluses. A country can durably suppress domestic demand — restrained wages, high savings, tight fiscal policy — to maximise manufacturing competitiveness. The surplus costs it nothing: deficit partners absorb the adjustment through debt, deindustrialisation and pressure on employment. Keynes foresaw this at Bretton Woods in 1944: his clearing…
Trump: The Organization of Chaos
March 23, 2025Without explicitly stating it, Donald Trump draws a correlation between the undeniable reserve currency status of the dollar and its impact on the industrial competitiveness of the United States. In truth, the facts support his argument, as industrial jobs now account for only 10% of employment in the U.S., compared to 40% in the 1980s.…
For China, good news are bad news
January 30, 2022China’s trade surpluses are beating all their historic records. Despite the stagnation of its national consumption, China is racking up trade surpluses in the way of 94 billion dollars per month. This good news is however not so good because the strong correlation between a nation’s trade balance and its overall consumption. These enormous…