Tariffs, Economic War, and the Emerging Post-American Order

Tariffs, Economic War, and the Emerging Post-American Order

My commentary: The tariffs imposed under the Trump administration are not genuinely aimed at revitalizing American industry. Rather, they function as a tool to destabilize China’s economic growth and position the U.S. to provoke a potential military confrontation. These punitive measures are designed to persist unless nations acquiesce to the administration’s demands, effectively coercing them into aligning with its confrontational economic agenda against China. 

Disclosure: Van Jackson used to work for Center for American Century (CNAS). 

CNAS’ supporters

AI going DeepSeek

Most readers will know the news by now. DeepSeek, a Chinese AI company, released an AI model called R1 that is comparable in ability to the best models from companies such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Meta, but was trained at a radically lower cost and using less than state-of-the art GPU chips. DeepSeek also made public enough of the details of the model that others can run it on their own computers without charge.

AI going DeepSeek

Previously:

Interview with Deepseek Founder: We’re Done Following. It’s Time to Lead

Trump Treasury pick Scott Bessent could become highest-ranking openly LGBTQ+ person in US history

The Pink Palace (Wikimedia Commons)

Donald Trump’s nominee for secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent, who lives in Charleston, South Carolina with his husband and family, could become first Senate-approved LGBTQ+ member in a Republican cabinet.

Trump Treasury pick Scott Bessent could become highest-ranking openly LGBTQ+ person in US history