We’re in the equivalent of the Interwar period, when world trade’s % of GDP had collapsed from its pre-WW1 highs and didn’t surpass it until the 1970s and 1980s. Until autocracies disappear or stop having significant influence, we won’t be able to return to the free trade heyday of the 1990s and 2000s (even that was flawed, as China didn’t really engage in it, but to those who didn’t pay attention to its policies it *looked* like the whole world embraced its benefits).
Combine this with the environmental, demographic deterioration, widespread disinformation, democratic backsliding, housing crisis and many other things, and all I can say is: buckle up. Things will get worse before they get better again.
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We’re in the equivalent of the Interwar period, when world trade’s % of GDP had collapsed from its pre-WW1 highs and didn’t surpass it until the 1970s and 1980s. Until autocracies disappear or stop having significant influence, we won’t be able to return to the free trade heyday of the 1990s and 2000s (even that was flawed, as China didn’t really engage in it, but to those who didn’t pay attention to its policies it *looked* like the whole world embraced its benefits).
Combine this with the environmental, demographic deterioration, widespread disinformation, democratic backsliding, housing crisis and many other things, and all I can say is: buckle up. Things will get worse before they get better again.