The pandemic and the waning of American prestige
The battle for humanity and solidarity in the
post-American world.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/24/opinion/coronavirus-democracy-europe.html
The End of the US-China Relationship
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/end-of-us-china-relationship-harms-both-sides-by-stephen-s-roach-2020-04
https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/end-of-us-china-relationship-harms-both-sides-by-stephen-s-roach-2020-04
Stephen Roach notes:
“Although these tectonic shifts will leave most
Americans worse off, the US seems to be shrugging its collective shoulders.
America First has resonated with widespread wariness of globalization (now
reinforced by concerns over supply-chain vulnerability). Many Americans are
angry over allegedly unfair trade deals and practices, indignant at seemingly
disproportionate US funding for institutions like the International Monetary
Fund and the World Bank, and suspicious that the US security umbrella in
Europe, Asia, and elsewhere encourages free riders and others not paying their
fair share.
Paradoxically, this inward turn comes at precisely the
moment when America’s already depressed domestic saving is likely to come under
enormous pressure from an explosion of pandemic-related government deficits.
Not only does that imply deepening current-account and trade deficits (the
nemesis of the America First agenda), but it also poses a major challenge to
longer-term economic growth”.