In an article published today by the Financial Times, Martin Wolf analyzes the unintended consequences for economic activities of arbitrary decisions imposed by an absolute ruler.
Martin Wolf reviews the reasons why the English-speaking world began to do away with absolute rulers 800 years ago, in a long and bitter struggle, from the Magna Carta of 1215 to the exile of James II and the declaration of the Bill of Rights of 1689, through the civil war of the early 17th century, culminating in the execution of Charles I in 1649. Lessons that America should be particularly interested in today.

 

Wolf writes: "What is happening today in the US is of historic and also global significance, because it is about whether constraints on the arbitrary exercise of power will endure."

 

"The trade wars Trump has launched are a demonstration of the dangers. Astoundingly, the FT’s “tariff tracker” lists 25 significant policy announcements by the US and the countries it has been assailing in less than three months. It records seven big trade policy announcements between April 2 and 11 alone. These included “reciprocal” tariffs on all countries on April 2, the subsequent reduction of these, after market turmoil, to 10 per cent for 90 days, along with the retaliation cycle between the US and China, has led to prohibitive tariffs on both sides."

 

"We have also seen falling stock prices, high market volatility and, even more disturbingly, the dollar’s fall even while yields on Treasuries rose. It appeared as though capital started to flee from the US itself. No wonder Trump blinked. While “tariffing” the world, he should have known that foreigners held $8.5tn of US Treasuries at the end of 2024, close to a quarter of total public debt."

 

"Unpredictable despots generate waste, fear and pervasive uncertainty. These are enemies of prosperity. Trump’s constantly shifting trade wars and demolition of the global trading system are currently demonstrating this." "Business, after all, must think in years, not days. With its party bureaucracy, Xi Jinping’s China now provides more predictability for [local] business than the US. That is shocking."

 

This article explains with statistics and clear arguments why the United States will pay a high economic price for choosing to elevate a madman to the highest office in the state.

 

At the same time, we must candidly recognize that there is method in Trump's madness. By making the United States poorer, Trump solves at the root the two problems that America's wealth generates: unchecked immigration and trade deficit.
An impoverished America is an America that attracts fewer immigrants but also an America that can no longer afford to import and consume the quantities of goods that it imports and consumes today.

A poorer and more frugal America is also a more environmentally friendly America, a good thing for planet Earth, for living beings and for all humanity. Therefore, also the left has reasons to rejoice at Trump's election.

The only ones destined to suffer are the true conservatives. Those who believe in the rule of law, reason, science and the material and spiritual progress of humanity.

Who is Martin Wolf ?

Has he ever led the greatest economy 

of the world?

Has he ever been President or leader of a gov!

 

Does he know America left the monarchy over 2 centuries  ago.

He’s a progressive , a British Journalist .