The Trade War is put on the open agenda.

Michael Schumann announces the Trade War and blames China for making it inevitable. His article China Has Gotten the Trade War It Deserves was published in The Atlantic on May 15, 2024. Embedded on the page is an audio of the article.

In The Atlantic, Michael Schumann gives a detailed comment supporting this judgment. China is blamed for not having adjusted its economic policy. One interesting point is that he considers it wrong that Chinese households spend too little money and save too much. "New policies that nudge Chinese families to spend more and save less could alleviate the problem." His conclusion: "Facing political pressure at home, politicians around the world are forced to defend their economies from Xi’s strategy, even if that leads to trade wars that sour relations with Beijing. This is not a good outcome for the global economy or for geopolitical stability. But Xi’s policies have made it inevitable."

The explicit mention of geopolitical stability clarifies that this "inevitable" trade war will probably mix with other global financial and military conflicts. Is that really inevitable? No!

I do not think that war of any kind is inevitable, and almost never just one side is to be blamed, except when thinking of the side built by the warmongers on all official sides. It can be avoided.

However, we need to get prepared for difficult times.