Who would have thought? Albert Hirschman, a 20th century German political economist, is having a belated “moment”. Overdue and welcome as this may be, analysts are poring over his 1945 book National Power and the Structure of Foreign Trade to understand the Trump tariff turmoil, when they should also be looking at the 1977 The Passions and the Interests: Political Arguments for Capitalism before Its Triumph, to understand the logic of America first. National Power and the Structure of Foreign Trade provided a brilliant analysis of the way in which international trade could become an instrument of war. Germany in the 1930s was not only run by fascists, but it ran a trade surplus and was able to bully smaller nations into asymmetric economic pacts. If this sounds familiar, it should: it is precisely what the Trump administration is trying to do, despite having one of the world’s largest debt and trade deficits.
Hirschman’s warning: Forgotten lessons about Trump’s trade war | Lowy Institute
