At the dinner, the organizer of the conference, a female German scholar stunned me.
I expressed doubts regarding the usefulness of Trump’s tariffs and she practically exploded. Get this: in defense of the tariffs.
“You just said in your talk that you want a nation-state, right?” she ranted. “You don’t like neoliberalism. But how can you have a nation-state when there are no borders in any meaningful sense of the word? A national government needs to delineate the limits of the state. Isn’t that clear?”
This was before drinks were served, and it was pretty much the last thing I expected to hear in this milieu.
Of course, I shouldn’t be that surprised because the scholar who inserted me into this conference is a very religious Ukrainian colleague. But still. This is turning out to be a very unusual experience.
Nobody rational, the market difference between the USA and Canada is largely the result of 3.3 million barrels of Alberta crude oil shipped daily to refineries largely in Texas. It is currently sold at less than world price. The stock markets in both countries are signally uncertaincy and possible recession.
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signalling ;-D
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Totally support the leadership of President Trump.
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OT: https://nypost.com/2025/03/10/media/ny-times-tells-editorial-writers-accept-new-position-or-take-buyout/?utm_campaign=nypost&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter
It is *fascinating* watching how the destruction of USAID is trickling down into layoffs and budget cuts at major news organizations.
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Tarrifs might give the impression of defending the nation interest (and certainly benefit some vested interests) but it is not at all clear that they do in practice.
https://dailyfriend.co.za/2025/02/14/why-china-will-win-trumps-global-trade-war/
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