In this episode, we examine the deliberate unraveling of the global trade system by the very nation that once built it. What does it mean to be economically present in the world if presence no longer demands interaction? What happens when tariffs are no longer instruments of protection for domestic renewal, but tools of tactical leverage?
Drawing historical parallels from the mercantilist era through 19th-century industrial policy, this episode explores the return of trade as a means of control—not construction. We trace the structural failure of European empires that extracted but did not build, and the deeper implications of the United States adopting a similar logic today.
China’s rise, like Britain’s before it, challenges not just competitiveness but coherence, exposing what happens when nations rely on leverage without investing in transformation. The episode asks whether economic collapse in the U.S. will take the form of a dramatic crisis or slow erosion: not an explosion, but an unbuilding.
Topics include:
For essays, transcripts, and more analysis, visit: