Alternative Visions - China Trade, GM Layoffs, & Trump v. Fed - 11.30.18

Dr. Rasmus speculates on possible outcomes of the Trump-Xi meeting at G20 in Buenos Aires this coming weekend and provides a background history of US-China ‘trade war’ since May 2018; the latest moves of factions within US trade negotiations delegation; and Trump’s failure to get China to the negotiating table. Also, China’s past concession signals and US responses. And the Pence speech at the recent Asia-Pacific conference & US trade representative, Robert Lighthizer’s latest anti-China report released before the G20. Possible tactical outcomes and responses by China & US after the G20 meeting, and ‘wildcards’ that may impact post G20 events (including recent Cohen-Mueller developments). Rasmus next discusses GM’s announcement of 14,000 layoffs and what’s really behind it as GM pressures Trump for more car tariffs and tax credits. The show concludes with discussion of Federal Reserve chair, Powell’s, ‘about face’ this past week on slower further Fed rate hikes, only weeks after signaling in October many more hikes were coming. The Fed’s fiction of ‘neutral’ interest rate and myths about central bank (Fed) independence. (Check out the Rasmus blog, jackrasmus.com, for an excerpt from Rasmus’s forthcoming book, ‘Alexander Hamilton and the Origins of the Fed’, debunking the myth of central bank independence). Next week: Report back on the G20 Meeting and its fallout.