Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
How to lose the 21st century, in three easy steps - Catherine Rampell
WaPo - Gift LinkMore than anything else, President Donald Trump loves winning. Yet he has already positioned America to lose the 21st century, in three simple steps:
Trump most vividly demonstrated Step 1 with his Oval Office tantrum against a war-torn ally. But it also includes his gratuitous insults of our friends; abrupt termination of programs tackling global public health menaces (including some that the United States caused); and threats to punish our closest trading partners, with no clear objective.
All that soft power the United States accumulated over the past century is vaporizing. This means no friends to support us against our adversaries, whether rogue nations or terrorist groups. Ticking off our allies also means ticking off some of our best customers, who will turn to economic competitors. In some cases, these customers are outright boycotting U.S. products.
Which brings me to Step 2: our business advantage.
Investors have long viewed the United States as more attractive than other powerful or growing economies (such as, say, China), given our free capital markets, strong property rights, (relatively) predictable regulatory landscape and — most importantly — rule of law. Businesses can be confident, for example, that the state will not expropriate their assets without due process. They can trust that if they enter into a legally binding contract to buy some good or service, their counterparty will deliver — and if not, they will have legal recourse, regardless of the other side’s political connections.
Under the Trump administration, however, none of these business conditions can be taken for granted.
1. Alienate your friends.
2. Destroy your business environment.
3. Slaughter your golden goose (i.e., science and research).
Trump most vividly demonstrated Step 1 with his Oval Office tantrum against a war-torn ally. But it also includes his gratuitous insults of our friends; abrupt termination of programs tackling global public health menaces (including some that the United States caused); and threats to punish our closest trading partners, with no clear objective.
All that soft power the United States accumulated over the past century is vaporizing. This means no friends to support us against our adversaries, whether rogue nations or terrorist groups. Ticking off our allies also means ticking off some of our best customers, who will turn to economic competitors. In some cases, these customers are outright boycotting U.S. products.
Which brings me to Step 2: our business advantage.
Investors have long viewed the United States as more attractive than other powerful or growing economies (such as, say, China), given our free capital markets, strong property rights, (relatively) predictable regulatory landscape and — most importantly — rule of law. Businesses can be confident, for example, that the state will not expropriate their assets without due process. They can trust that if they enter into a legally binding contract to buy some good or service, their counterparty will deliver — and if not, they will have legal recourse, regardless of the other side’s political connections.
Under the Trump administration, however, none of these business conditions can be taken for granted.