U.S Business Today: The Donald Trump Analysis

He suggests that we deal with the problem by imposing a 25% tariff on Chinese goods, also known as a radical violation of his so called ‘free market principles’. Despite the contradiction, the tariff sounds appropriate given the circumstances, but impossible to approve in Congress. This, of course, is where the ‘making America great again’ rhetoric ties in.

Let’s examine closely some real examples that show Trump is exactly right; China will not be pushed around by U.S business interests, and it’s not because they hold 1/14 of our debt. This makes us seem less ‘great’. China’s been around for 3,000+ years, and its semi-fascist government is fully aware of the country’s massive capacity to industrialize and realize its full potential for long-term economic growth. Just like how Truman and his Wall Street advisers didn’t care about Stalin’s crimes against humanity (instead praising him for his sponsorship of the USSR’s economic growth), the U.S doesn’t give a damn about China’s human rights violations. We have more important concerns, like the happiness of our oil companies.

Just a few years ago, the U.S was bewildered by China’s refusal to make adjustments to the yuan exchange rate against the dollar, as well as its intensely improving relationship with Chavez and Venezuelan oil (that’s just for us). The brilliant Bush administration decided to protest by reducing the Premier’s celebratory invitation in Washington from a big dinner to a standard luncheon.

In response to this, the Chinese flew straight from Washington to Venezuela to take pictures with Chavez and sign a major petroleum pact. The U.S was furious. Chavez’s goal of reducing his country’s dependence on the U.S market may precipitate a global shift in which China will benefit by helping to meet its exponentially growing energy demands with Latin American oil. Therefore, Latin America becomes less poor, and we get less oil and a rise in petro prices.

In the case of Venezuela (and countless other similar examples), we’ve been supporting a military coup to overthrow Chavez for just these reasons for over 10 years. To emphasize Wharton School (Trump’s alma-mater, coincidentally) Professor Edward S. Herman, “U. S. business wants a “favorable climate of investment” abroad, and military regimes that will crush labor unions and otherwise serve foreign business meet that demand.”

Now that we’ve established Trump’s analysis of U.S international relations, that narrows our focus into one acceptable question; what does Trump mean by “we need to make America great again”?

With respect to his perspective on trade relations, he would make America great again for his people, which just means properly reassuring establishment business. He’d expect other countries to provide our corporations with what they call a ‘favorable climate for investment’, while providing a reliable state that protects business from the ravages of the market on a national and global scale. Four years of Trump would attempt to create a real utopia for those with economic power. His administration would promise a perfectly competent polyarchy, where only private power, what James Madison called ‘the wealth of the nation’, makes decisions.

According to Donald Trump, only then would the world ‘respect us’ like it once did.

ARB Team
Arbitrage Magazine
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