Sometimes in history, one can pinpoint the precise moment when things took a turn for the worse. When it comes to America's international economic dominance, that moment is likely to be the day Donald Trump was elected president.
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – Marco Polo, the famous thirteenth-century Venetian merchant, was one of the first Europeans to trade with China. Now imagine that, after a while, the Venetian state became concerned that Polo was purchasing too many silks and spices from China to sell at a profit in Europe. The “trade deficit” he was creating, the authorities worry, would deplete the stock of gold in Venice, while creating jobs for Chinese, rather than for Venetians.
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA – Marco Polo, the famous thirteenth-century Venetian merchant, was one of the first Europeans to trade with China. Now imagine that, after a while, the Venetian state became concerned that Polo was purchasing too many silks and spices from China to sell at a profit in Europe. The “trade deficit” he was creating, the authorities worry, would deplete the stock of gold in Venice, while creating jobs for Chinese, rather than for Venetians.