8/14/2019

CHINA/ECONOMY/TARIFFS/TRADE WAR/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “In a span of less than 24 hours, developments in Washington and Wall Street have sent a vivid message: The world is ambling toward an economic morass of the sort that no mere presidential tweet can fix. On Tuesday [8-13-19], President Trump blinked in the trade war with China, retreating from previous plans to apply tariffs to virtually all Chinese imports on Sept. 1. The action ensures that American buyers of Chinese-made toys, smartphones and much more won’t face tariff-boosted prices this holiday season…The bond market wasn’t quite so buoyant. While longer-term Treasury yields rose, reflecting more optimism, the increase was slight — and they remained far below their levels of late July…But events this month signal that the problems facing the world economy are more complex and intractable than the immediate reaction to President Trump’s trade war de-escalation might suggest. A tactical retreat here and there won’t solve the deeper problems hanging over the world economy. Once chaos has been unleashed into the global economic system, it can be hard to reel back in.”

Neil Irwin, “Global Economic Trouble Is Brewing, and the Trade War Is Only Part of It,” The New York Times online, August 14, 2019