Trade war, inequality, populist revolt: baby boomers should reflect on their economic legacy this Easter
Andrew Sheng says that instead of decrying populism, the reaction against free trade and the rise of authoritarians, liberals in rich countries should examine how the globalisation process they supported led to a backlash
Will all this confusion end in tears?
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The current angst in the West is largely about the rise of populism, as the masses show their anger with the established order, lashing out at globalisation, foreigners, immigration, Islam, China, Russia and anyone that can be blamed. The liberals, including the mainstream media, are mesmerised by Trump, but forget that the more they attack him, the more powerful they make him in the eyes of his supporters. He is not in the business of change, but the business of optical change. Declaring a trade war satisfies his supporters. Whether it works or not is tomorrow’s concern.
Donald Trump’s tariffs are just what global trade needs to open new directions in policymaking
The current sound and fury in global politics disguises the important signal: the elite have been attacking the wrong target. They should look in the mirror and ponder whether they are their own worst enemy.
The Bretton Woods narrative is broken. Its free market, auto-stabilising message cannot deal with the destabilising political, demographic and technological drivers of globalisation. We need a longer historical, philosophical and value-based narrative to deal realistically with these forces, as well as the primal anger over a system that only serves the elite few.
Trump’s flaws should not distract from the greater imperfections of US-China trade relations
The advanced countries papered over these issues with massive financialisation, printing money to fund growing debt at zero interest rates. In essence, the rest of the world financed the rich countries, and are now blamed for “unfair trade”.
‘America first’ shouldn’t stop the US from welcoming Chinese students and other global talent
The rich-nation liberals never saw the consequences of massive financialisation on the political divide. Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe puts it best: the elite refused to see what they don’t want to see. Because the elite could afford the best education, health care and treatment under the law, they completely ignored the true condition of the non-elite.
Focus on livelihood issues led to Hong Kong by-election win, pro-establishment bloc’s Vincent Cheng says
Life is therefore a cycle of birth, growth, failure, age and then death. But there is always a new generation to inherit and deal with the failures of the current generation.
Which is why I, as a member of the baby boomer generation, would ask for a lot of forgiveness and repentance for our sins.
Andrew Sheng reflects on global issues from an Asian perspective