Fixing the global economy
Glenn Hubbard on trade, taxation and new technologies
What’s your take on the current state of the global economy? Dark clouds appear to be looming…
There are two main issues. Firstly, there are areas of structural weakness – China, the eurozone, the US and so on. But overlying that is something different which is causing volatility and that is the enormous amount of political uncertainty and poor policy management in much of the world. We live in a world where a tweet can move a market 4%-5% in a day, so markets are constantly on edge.
So what can be done to bolster global trade?
The number one trade problem for the US right now is China. And you have to give Trump credit for calling China out. It is a bad actor on trade and intellectual property. But the US needs to join forces with the Europeans, Japan, Canada and others to pursue a multinational approach to China. The US can reduce their bilateral trade deficit with China, but will just end up having it with someone else. That is basic economics, but it is apparently lost on our leaders.
