First Word
Trump trade wars
In a White House Rose Garden address on April 2, 2025, Trump declared that April 2 was “Liberation Day”, describing the announcement as “one of the most important days in American
Column
The harder they come
A Jamaican herbal brew holds promise for the good Professor’s errant entrepreneur friend. Last week, I was somewhat startled by Prinz Charlz, our local herbal entrepreneur, knocking at my window.
Bread line not the cashline
Food for thought on Gaza’s runaway inflation from Frances Coppola. Inflation, we are told, is “always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon”: too much money chasing too few goods. Allowing the
Interviews
Lucre ahead
David McWilliams is both an academic expert in monetary economics and has worked for the Irish central bank, so he understands the realities of creating money. His book, Money, has
Common sense
Christian Felber is a writer, lecturer and contemporary dancer. He founded the Economy for the Common Good movement, which has spread around the world. He has been thinking about how
Lost leader
Ann Pettifor has long been an influential commentator on the state of global economies and finance, since leading a successful campaign for debt relief for developing countries in the 90s,
Unsafe harbours
Laleh Khalili, a professor of Gulf Studies born in Iran to politically radical parents, uses her understanding of material structures such as ports, shipping, and mining, to build a picture
Articles
Something is going to go down
Erald Kolasi warns of an inevitable US decline as China commands the trading top spot and the tie between the toppling of trade leaders and conflict. Trump’s recent trade war
Double barrelled deficits and two-tiered opportunities
John Komlos warns Donald Trump that shooting yourself in the foot is not the remedy for toe pain and prescribes an oracle’s application. It is common knowledge that the U.S.’s
The price of compliance
Ecuador leapt into the global economy seeking economic development but found only dependency. María Gabriela Palacio Ludeña writes. At Guayaquil airport, Ecuadorians disembark from deportation flights, some wearing ankle monitors
Why war seems inevitable
Paul Frijters argues that the world’s billionaires hold sway over governments and some are at the point of lashing out. Global trade has greatly contributed to prosperity and peace since
Alternative route
Lebohang Liepollo Pheko tells how alternatives to neoliberal consumption are being built in the Global South even as Trumps’ America charges around. As Trump-era tariffs spiral into renewed trade chaos,
Tech trumps tariffs
Richard Vague advises Donald Trump to stop charging around and do some research. The US has had a particularly woeful trade deficit since the 1980s, and this article will consider
The requirements of surplus
Michael Williams explains how inequality is preserved when there is enough for everyone. Modern economics purports to tackle the problem of scarce resources. In truth, our greatest challenge lies in
Trade heads south
Auska Ovando and Martha Hungwe explain why trade between Global South nations is increasing and why the forces at play cannot be solely those of the market. South-South trade has