1 00:00:02,720 --> 00:00:07,200 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news. 2 00:00:08,320 --> 00:00:10,440 Speaker 2: Dodor Myron, you are now recognized. 3 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 3: My view is that reindustriizing America is imperative, not only 4 00:00:13,800 --> 00:00:18,080 Speaker 3: for economic reasons, but for national security. Economists must accept 5 00:00:18,440 --> 00:00:21,079 Speaker 3: that we are a nation with an economy, not merely 6 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:25,200 Speaker 3: an economy with a nation to reindustrialize. Policy must focus 7 00:00:25,200 --> 00:00:27,280 Speaker 3: on making the United States the best place on Earth 8 00:00:27,320 --> 00:00:28,320 Speaker 3: to do business. 9 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,040 Speaker 4: I'm Stephanie Flanders, head of Government and Economics at Bloomberg, 10 00:00:40,440 --> 00:00:43,320 Speaker 4: and welcome to Trump Economics, the podcast that looks at 11 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 4: the economic world of Donald Trump, how he's already shaped 12 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:48,760 Speaker 4: the global economy, and what on earth is going to 13 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 4: happen next. Well, this week we're asking just how exactly 14 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,279 Speaker 4: Donald Trump would like global trade and finance to operate, 15 00:00:57,720 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 4: and how likely is he to get there. In just 16 00:01:00,240 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 4: a few weeks, Donald Trump has turned one of the 17 00:01:02,120 --> 00:01:05,319 Speaker 4: world's oldest security relationships, the Western Alliance, on its head. 18 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:09,720 Speaker 4: He's also unleashed a slew of tariff threats on China, Canada, 19 00:01:09,720 --> 00:01:12,600 Speaker 4: and Mexico, with more to come. And at the same time, 20 00:01:12,920 --> 00:01:16,640 Speaker 4: talk has intensified over a so called Mara Lago accord 21 00:01:16,880 --> 00:01:21,920 Speaker 4: to deliberately weaken the dollar through a grand international bargain. Well, 22 00:01:21,920 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 4: at Trumpnomics, we think all three of these things might 23 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:27,160 Speaker 4: be connected. And we think that because we've read a 24 00:01:27,160 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 4: paper written in November by Stephen Myron which first came 25 00:01:30,600 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 4: up with the idea of that Mara Lago accord. Now, 26 00:01:33,560 --> 00:01:36,920 Speaker 4: back then Myron was a former US Treasury advisor working 27 00:01:36,920 --> 00:01:39,759 Speaker 4: as a strategist in the private sector, but now he's 28 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:42,840 Speaker 4: poised to be the head of President Trump's Council of 29 00:01:42,880 --> 00:01:46,240 Speaker 4: Economic Advisors. And the currency piece of that paper has 30 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:50,480 Speaker 4: been much discussed since then, especially the last couple of weeks, 31 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:54,639 Speaker 4: but not so much the grander reordering of the world 32 00:01:54,680 --> 00:01:57,480 Speaker 4: trade and financial system, which is actually what the paper's 33 00:01:57,520 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 4: mainly about, and I would have thought could be pretty 34 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:04,440 Speaker 4: appealing to Donald Trump too. So what is that new 35 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:09,320 Speaker 4: world order for trade and finance sketched out in that paper? 36 00:02:09,360 --> 00:02:13,000 Speaker 4: Does it make any sense intellectually or practically? And how 37 00:02:13,080 --> 00:02:15,760 Speaker 4: might it change the world If any or all of 38 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:20,560 Speaker 4: that were actually attempted To help understand Stephen Moron's worldview 39 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:23,200 Speaker 4: and what it could mean for currencies for the global 40 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:26,919 Speaker 4: economic order, we've got two brilliant voices, as you'd expect. 41 00:02:27,200 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 4: Welcome back to Sean Donnan, senior writer for Economics with Bloomberg. Shan, 42 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:32,919 Speaker 4: thanks again for joining us. 43 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:34,320 Speaker 5: Wonderful to be here. 44 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:38,240 Speaker 4: And Mark Sobel, the US chairman of OMFIF, which is 45 00:02:38,639 --> 00:02:42,520 Speaker 4: the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum. He's also a 46 00:02:42,560 --> 00:02:45,480 Speaker 4: former colleague of mine at the US Treasury who always 47 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:49,000 Speaker 4: answered the toughest questions I had, and an International Monetary 48 00:02:49,000 --> 00:02:51,760 Speaker 4: Fund official. He's been, i think it's fair to say, 49 00:02:52,160 --> 00:02:55,280 Speaker 4: at the forefront or certainly in the room for international 50 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:58,840 Speaker 4: financial diplomacy for twenty years or more. Thanks very much 51 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:10,239 Speaker 4: for joining US, Mark Pleasure concent So Sean briefly, how 52 00:03:10,320 --> 00:03:16,000 Speaker 4: is security and economics interlinked in Myron and potentially Donald 53 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:17,000 Speaker 4: Trump's view of the world. 54 00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:20,440 Speaker 5: Stephen Myron's paper, which came out in November and which 55 00:03:20,560 --> 00:03:24,000 Speaker 5: reads now, is a kind of very good piece of 56 00:03:24,080 --> 00:03:28,080 Speaker 5: job interviewing for the job he has now. The title 57 00:03:28,200 --> 00:03:30,720 Speaker 5: was you know, how to rebalance the Global Trading System? 58 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:33,680 Speaker 5: And it laid out this kind of sequence of events 59 00:03:33,720 --> 00:03:35,880 Speaker 5: that they wanted to go through. And the first was 60 00:03:36,440 --> 00:03:39,360 Speaker 5: based on a recognition that in their mind, the dollar 61 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:42,640 Speaker 5: is overvalued and that that's a problem for the United 62 00:03:42,640 --> 00:03:46,920 Speaker 5: States and its competitiveness around the world, and they wanted 63 00:03:46,960 --> 00:03:49,200 Speaker 5: to tackle that in two ways. One was to use 64 00:03:49,280 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 5: tariffs to kind of rebalance trade, to draw more investment 65 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:56,840 Speaker 5: to the United States, to rebuild the industrial capacity here 66 00:03:56,840 --> 00:03:59,960 Speaker 5: in the United States, and it's kind of hard industrial 67 00:04:00,200 --> 00:04:03,600 Speaker 5: power in the world. But they also recognize that when 68 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 5: you increase tariffs, you are going to inevitably cause the 69 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,880 Speaker 5: dollar to appreciate. That's kind of the laws of economics. 70 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:15,040 Speaker 5: Mark can walk you through that and much more than 71 00:04:15,080 --> 00:04:17,119 Speaker 5: I can. But they're gonna end up with a stronger dollar, 72 00:04:17,240 --> 00:04:19,080 Speaker 5: and as a result of that, they needed to come 73 00:04:19,120 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 5: up with a plan to then weaken the dollar afterwards. 74 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:25,600 Speaker 5: And that's where this mari A Lago accord comes through. 75 00:04:25,800 --> 00:04:28,760 Speaker 5: Everyone's focused on this mari A Lago accord. Very few 76 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:33,080 Speaker 5: people have focused on how Stephen Myron is talking about 77 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:39,159 Speaker 5: really erasing the boundary between America and how it uses 78 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:42,400 Speaker 5: the economic power and how it uses its national security 79 00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:45,919 Speaker 5: power and to get what it wants. And this is 80 00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:49,600 Speaker 5: what we're seeing now. We're seeing Donald Trump use tariffs, 81 00:04:49,680 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 5: use the threat of withdrawing security guarantees. We're seeing that 82 00:04:53,480 --> 00:04:55,640 Speaker 5: play out in Ukraine, We're seeing that play out in 83 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:58,520 Speaker 5: the Transatlantic relationship. There's big questions about what it might 84 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:00,360 Speaker 5: mean for the future of Taiwan. 85 00:05:00,560 --> 00:05:01,159 Speaker 2: And things like that. 86 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:03,440 Speaker 5: But that's the new model, and it's all about how 87 00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:05,719 Speaker 5: do you get what Donald Trump wants? How do you 88 00:05:05,760 --> 00:05:08,359 Speaker 5: get to his vision of the global economy. 89 00:05:08,480 --> 00:05:10,640 Speaker 4: That is definitely the question that a lot of people 90 00:05:10,680 --> 00:05:14,800 Speaker 4: in Washington are asking themselves. Mark just on this piece, 91 00:05:15,000 --> 00:05:18,840 Speaker 4: if you read the paper, what comes across very strongly 92 00:05:19,120 --> 00:05:22,599 Speaker 4: is in effect this idea that America has been hugely 93 00:05:22,600 --> 00:05:26,280 Speaker 4: disadvantaged by being the world's most important country. You know 94 00:05:26,320 --> 00:05:30,240 Speaker 4: that having this reserve dollar status and being the sort 95 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:33,839 Speaker 4: of lynchpin also of the security system, but specifically the 96 00:05:33,880 --> 00:05:36,560 Speaker 4: currency and the US financial system being at the heart 97 00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:40,479 Speaker 4: of everything has ended up forcing the currency to be 98 00:05:40,640 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 4: overvalued and made US manufacturing less competitive cost ordinary Americans jobs. 99 00:05:48,520 --> 00:05:51,120 Speaker 4: The basic idea that the US dollar is overvalued and 100 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:54,280 Speaker 4: it has something to do with America's status in the 101 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:57,640 Speaker 4: global financial system. Is that true? Would you say that 102 00:05:57,680 --> 00:05:58,160 Speaker 4: adds up? 103 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:04,600 Speaker 1: The dollar is the world's global reserve and financing currency. 104 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:07,839 Speaker 1: It is so because of the properties of the US economy. 105 00:06:08,279 --> 00:06:10,479 Speaker 1: We're the largest economy in the world, we have good 106 00:06:10,560 --> 00:06:14,640 Speaker 1: rule of law, we've had respect for institutions, We've had 107 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:17,800 Speaker 1: kind of decent macro policies. We've got the deepest, most 108 00:06:17,880 --> 00:06:21,360 Speaker 1: open liquid capital markets in the world, et cetera. So 109 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: that brings capital into the United States, and in that sense, 110 00:06:27,480 --> 00:06:31,680 Speaker 1: it pushes up the dollar. So I do think that 111 00:06:31,720 --> 00:06:35,559 Speaker 1: there is something to the idea that says that because 112 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:39,600 Speaker 1: of the attractiveness of the United States and receiving capital, 113 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:45,200 Speaker 1: that the dollar is overvalued. Whatever that means. 114 00:06:45,880 --> 00:06:47,520 Speaker 4: I guess some people would have seen like the Big 115 00:06:47,560 --> 00:06:49,360 Speaker 4: mac Index and things like that, which you know, but 116 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:53,279 Speaker 4: just basically, it means that you're when you compare prices 117 00:06:53,279 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 4: across countries, the US looks out of whag. 118 00:06:55,839 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 1: Yes, of course, there's no precise way to measure that, 119 00:06:58,720 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: but and I do believe that you could argue, and 120 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:03,960 Speaker 1: I think the advance has made this point that. 121 00:07:03,920 --> 00:07:06,480 Speaker 2: It's a subsidied. 122 00:07:05,880 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: Consumer and attacks on manufacturers and whatnot, and you know, 123 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:15,400 Speaker 1: historically it has given rise or further impetist to protectionist 124 00:07:15,480 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: tendencies in the United States, which is something that we 125 00:07:18,040 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: were always dealing with at Treasury. My big problem, however, 126 00:07:23,280 --> 00:07:27,680 Speaker 1: with going where you are is there's no reason why 127 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:32,600 Speaker 1: all countries should have current account bounces or whatnot. Some 128 00:07:32,640 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: countries are going to have deficits, some countries are going 129 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:37,880 Speaker 1: to have surpluses. And when you think about it, some 130 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:42,560 Speaker 1: countries with deficits, well, it's going to reflect demographics, energy endowments, 131 00:07:42,560 --> 00:07:47,720 Speaker 1: strengths of institutions, economic policies, et cetera. So the IMF 132 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:51,400 Speaker 1: has this calculation. It does, and it says the current 133 00:07:51,400 --> 00:07:54,680 Speaker 1: account norm of the US should be a minus two 134 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:58,240 Speaker 1: percent of GDP deficit. But in fact, if you look 135 00:07:58,280 --> 00:08:01,960 Speaker 1: at our deficit right now, it's pushing four percent. So 136 00:08:02,200 --> 00:08:05,360 Speaker 1: four percent isn't two percent? And why is it for 137 00:08:05,560 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 1: or not two? And that gets back down to questions 138 00:08:09,200 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 1: of just bad fiscal policy. For example, and Myron and others, 139 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:19,040 Speaker 1: they're all talking about the reserve currency or the financing 140 00:08:19,080 --> 00:08:22,920 Speaker 1: currency rule the dollar causing problems. They don't talk about 141 00:08:22,920 --> 00:08:27,720 Speaker 1: fiscal deficits. We have massive, irresponsible fiscal deficits these days. 142 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:31,920 Speaker 1: As far as I'm concerned, we should focus on implementing 143 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:33,839 Speaker 1: decent policies at home. 144 00:08:34,240 --> 00:08:37,080 Speaker 4: To go back a little bit on that reserve currency piece, 145 00:08:37,600 --> 00:08:40,720 Speaker 4: Donald Trump has made clear he wants to keep the 146 00:08:40,840 --> 00:08:45,120 Speaker 4: dollar's global reserve currency status. He's even talked about punishing 147 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:48,920 Speaker 4: countries that start talking about moving away from the dollar, 148 00:08:49,520 --> 00:08:51,800 Speaker 4: but he also wants to make it weaker. Is there 149 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:55,559 Speaker 4: a sort of straightforward contradiction there? Could you force people 150 00:08:55,600 --> 00:08:59,200 Speaker 4: to keep treating the dollar as a reserve currency while 151 00:08:59,320 --> 00:09:03,200 Speaker 4: still making it weaker and maybe us using lots of 152 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:04,600 Speaker 4: measures to support that. 153 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:07,640 Speaker 1: Doesn't it depend on kind of how you weakend. I mean, 154 00:09:07,679 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 1: currency markets. Currencies go up and down. They go up 155 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:13,199 Speaker 1: and down all the time, but that's a different issue. 156 00:09:13,720 --> 00:09:18,240 Speaker 1: Let us say than calling for devaluation, which to me 157 00:09:18,400 --> 00:09:23,960 Speaker 1: implies official action to conscientiously lower the dollar. And as 158 00:09:23,960 --> 00:09:26,480 Speaker 1: you mentioned, this idea of one hundred percent tax on 159 00:09:26,520 --> 00:09:29,680 Speaker 1: those who would shun the dollar. To me, I don't 160 00:09:29,720 --> 00:09:33,040 Speaker 1: really understand how you can call for devaluation and one 161 00:09:33,080 --> 00:09:37,000 Speaker 1: hundred percent taxes and say that that is consistent with 162 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:42,440 Speaker 1: preserving the reserve currency role of the dollar. So I 163 00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 1: don't think that it's inconsistent to say we're going to 164 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:48,560 Speaker 1: run a decent fiscal policy which may have the result 165 00:09:48,679 --> 00:09:53,960 Speaker 1: of lowering the dollars value. But I do think that 166 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:58,880 Speaker 1: calling for devaluation and taxes on others, and some of 167 00:09:58,960 --> 00:10:04,280 Speaker 1: Myron's ideas like one hundred years zero coupon bonds or 168 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:09,520 Speaker 1: taxes and fees on users. I think those are fundamentally 169 00:10:09,559 --> 00:10:14,320 Speaker 1: inconsistent with the reserve currency preserving the preserve currency role of. 170 00:10:14,360 --> 00:10:15,440 Speaker 2: The dour Sean. 171 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:17,560 Speaker 4: And say this, having already talked about it for fifty minutes, 172 00:10:17,600 --> 00:10:19,319 Speaker 4: we just want to get too obsessed with the details 173 00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:21,200 Speaker 4: of this document. But I think it is interesting to 174 00:10:21,200 --> 00:10:25,000 Speaker 4: sort of think about how Donald Trump's first few weeks 175 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:29,319 Speaker 4: has chimed with what was in that paper. There's quite 176 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:31,600 Speaker 4: a lot of areas where Myron's kind of assuming that 177 00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:34,280 Speaker 4: the things that cause a lot of volatility or uncertainty, 178 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:38,320 Speaker 4: like the tariffs will be done gradually. Well, seems to 179 00:10:38,320 --> 00:10:41,719 Speaker 4: be a greater appetite for volatility and uncertainty from the 180 00:10:41,760 --> 00:10:45,520 Speaker 4: administration so far in the way it's addressed that. Arguably, 181 00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:47,600 Speaker 4: you could say the same on the security front. How 182 00:10:47,679 --> 00:10:51,720 Speaker 4: much do you think is following the script suggested by Myron? 183 00:10:52,160 --> 00:10:54,280 Speaker 5: I think you can definitely see bits of the script 184 00:10:54,320 --> 00:10:56,720 Speaker 5: in there, right. I mean, you can definitely see this 185 00:10:56,840 --> 00:10:59,960 Speaker 5: broad idea of we're going to break down the barrier 186 00:11:00,040 --> 00:11:04,080 Speaker 5: between national security policy and economic policy, and we're going 187 00:11:04,160 --> 00:11:07,600 Speaker 5: to use one to reinforce the other, and vice versa. 188 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:08,680 Speaker 2: At the same time. 189 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:11,520 Speaker 5: What we've seen is the same thing we saw there 190 00:11:11,559 --> 00:11:14,400 Speaker 5: in the first Trump administration, and that is a pretty 191 00:11:14,559 --> 00:11:20,160 Speaker 5: chaotic policy making a lot of differing internal voices. We 192 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 5: are seeing again, whether it's on tariffs, this kind of 193 00:11:24,320 --> 00:11:27,800 Speaker 5: the rolling out of really aggressive tariffs on Canada and Mexico, 194 00:11:27,840 --> 00:11:29,959 Speaker 5: and then within forty eight hours they're kind of rolling 195 00:11:30,040 --> 00:11:32,920 Speaker 5: back in a big way. And with Ukraine, a live 196 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:37,440 Speaker 5: debate playing out via leaks and Oval Office comments on 197 00:11:37,880 --> 00:11:41,120 Speaker 5: what a peace deal might look like, what a minerals 198 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:46,240 Speaker 5: agreement with Ukraine might look like. I would say there 199 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:50,240 Speaker 5: is one kind of overarching aim above it all, and 200 00:11:50,280 --> 00:11:54,440 Speaker 5: that is that Donald Trump wants America to be feared again. 201 00:11:54,920 --> 00:11:58,360 Speaker 5: And that's his vision of power, and that applies to tariffs, 202 00:11:58,679 --> 00:12:01,840 Speaker 5: that applies to national security. It's not that he wants 203 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:05,280 Speaker 5: America to be this kind of beacon on the hill 204 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:09,760 Speaker 5: of democracy and free markets and that the world kind 205 00:12:09,800 --> 00:12:12,720 Speaker 5: of flocks towards. He wants to be able to dictate 206 00:12:12,840 --> 00:12:15,840 Speaker 5: how the world runs, and he believes that fear is 207 00:12:15,880 --> 00:12:18,680 Speaker 5: the most powerful thing to see and we're seeing elements 208 00:12:18,679 --> 00:12:22,160 Speaker 5: of that clearly in all sorts of policies that have 209 00:12:22,240 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 5: rolled out. But Beneath that kind of broad goal, it 210 00:12:24,840 --> 00:12:27,920 Speaker 5: all looks pretty messy, and it's not clear that these 211 00:12:27,960 --> 00:12:32,559 Speaker 5: goals kind of operate or can operate together. 212 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:35,520 Speaker 1: Can I come back to the mirone article a little 213 00:12:35,559 --> 00:12:38,160 Speaker 1: bit and Sean, it's obviously not a zero some world 214 00:12:38,160 --> 00:12:38,600 Speaker 1: we live in. 215 00:12:38,679 --> 00:12:41,280 Speaker 4: But to be more granular, I think it's a zero 216 00:12:41,360 --> 00:12:43,480 Speaker 4: some world that Donald Trump lives in. Genuinely. 217 00:12:43,720 --> 00:12:45,720 Speaker 1: Well, yes, But the point I wanted to make I 218 00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:47,360 Speaker 1: want to go back to being somewhat of a point. 219 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:51,079 Speaker 1: He had economics type, unlike you guys in this discussion, 220 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:53,559 Speaker 1: I wanted to talk more about some things I don't 221 00:12:53,640 --> 00:12:58,199 Speaker 1: like about the Myron article. Sure, the implication is that 222 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:02,360 Speaker 1: the dollar's global role as bad for America. The French 223 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: always talked about the exorbitant privilege. I believe the dollar's 224 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:09,600 Speaker 1: role is a net plus, not exorbitant. You know, we 225 00:13:09,720 --> 00:13:12,760 Speaker 1: get some maybe interest rates are lower, we're shielded from 226 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:17,800 Speaker 1: foreign exchange risk, we can use the dollar for geopolitical 227 00:13:17,880 --> 00:13:22,160 Speaker 1: leverage via sanctions. The dollars are valued, but on balance 228 00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:26,280 Speaker 1: net plus, if we're trying to disrupt alliances and everything, 229 00:13:27,080 --> 00:13:30,560 Speaker 1: I just don't know what is the end goal, the 230 00:13:30,720 --> 00:13:31,680 Speaker 1: end vision. 231 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:37,360 Speaker 4: Donald Trump famously approaches pretty much everything as a bargain 232 00:13:37,520 --> 00:13:40,720 Speaker 4: is about a deal, and it's about the relative strength 233 00:13:40,800 --> 00:13:44,000 Speaker 4: of each side in a deal. And by definition, you 234 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:47,760 Speaker 4: have most leverage in doing a deal with your strongest 235 00:13:47,800 --> 00:13:50,760 Speaker 4: partners because they're the ones who are already most have 236 00:13:50,880 --> 00:13:54,200 Speaker 4: most to lose by damaging the relationship with you. So 237 00:13:54,320 --> 00:13:58,000 Speaker 4: you could say it may be counterintuitive, but you could 238 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:00,920 Speaker 4: say it is a natural place to start if you 239 00:14:01,120 --> 00:14:05,440 Speaker 4: have the deeply transactional view that Donald Trump has, and 240 00:14:05,480 --> 00:14:10,400 Speaker 4: if you feel kind of fundamentally that the US shouldn't 241 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:13,880 Speaker 4: pay any price for being the strongest economy. Yes, it 242 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:15,640 Speaker 4: gets to be the reserve currency, but it should be 243 00:14:15,679 --> 00:14:18,160 Speaker 4: paid for by other people. If America is the strongest, 244 00:14:18,160 --> 00:14:20,120 Speaker 4: and they've been clever enough to be the strongest, and 245 00:14:20,160 --> 00:14:22,200 Speaker 4: by the way, also willing to put loads of American 246 00:14:22,200 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 4: troops at risk that other countries are not willing to 247 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:29,040 Speaker 4: put at risk in defending the free world, then why 248 00:14:29,080 --> 00:14:31,360 Speaker 4: not have everyone else pay for that. It's like America's 249 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:34,160 Speaker 4: performing a service and you make your allies who are 250 00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:36,400 Speaker 4: getting the most value out of you pay the most. 251 00:14:36,720 --> 00:14:38,720 Speaker 4: I mean mark. It may not be an attractive vision, 252 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:39,840 Speaker 4: but it's perfectly rational. 253 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:42,360 Speaker 1: First of all, I have to say I've always thought it, 254 00:14:42,600 --> 00:14:46,240 Speaker 1: certainly in recent decades, that Europe needed to step up more, 255 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:47,480 Speaker 1: step up more on defense. 256 00:14:47,520 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 2: So I have no problem with that. 257 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:51,440 Speaker 4: He's only one who's got them to do it, though, 258 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:52,640 Speaker 4: combination of him and. 259 00:14:52,600 --> 00:14:55,920 Speaker 1: Putin, well, I guess the more Putin than him. I 260 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:59,200 Speaker 1: think the magnitudes the way of getting it done are 261 00:14:59,320 --> 00:15:02,440 Speaker 1: very questionable. But again, if you're going to tell me 262 00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:06,520 Speaker 1: that the Trump vision is to get others to pay 263 00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:12,600 Speaker 1: for the US security guarantee, maybe that's a vision. Of course, 264 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:14,600 Speaker 1: it seems now that they're all going their own way 265 00:15:14,640 --> 00:15:17,360 Speaker 1: and rejecting the US, and this is going to have 266 00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:23,080 Speaker 1: really harmful of consequences I think for global relations and economics, 267 00:15:23,120 --> 00:15:24,680 Speaker 1: and it's not going to make us more secure, and 268 00:15:24,720 --> 00:15:26,640 Speaker 1: it's not going to make us more prosperous. 269 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:29,760 Speaker 4: Okay, but take the reserve currency thing. The world benefits 270 00:15:29,800 --> 00:15:31,960 Speaker 4: from there being a reserve currency. You know, we can 271 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:35,400 Speaker 4: denominate the cost of oil in a single currency. Everyone 272 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:38,000 Speaker 4: knows what they're talking about when they talk about ten dollars. 273 00:15:38,240 --> 00:15:40,400 Speaker 4: Why shouldn't the world pay for that? Why does America 274 00:15:40,480 --> 00:15:43,119 Speaker 4: have to pay the negative of you know, being overvalued 275 00:15:43,200 --> 00:15:44,640 Speaker 4: or whatever one might identify. 276 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:46,480 Speaker 2: The United States benefits from that. 277 00:15:46,880 --> 00:15:50,360 Speaker 1: The last decades have been remarkable for the history of 278 00:15:50,440 --> 00:15:54,760 Speaker 1: mankind and prosperity, and so the eighty years of the 279 00:15:54,760 --> 00:15:59,360 Speaker 1: postwar US hegemony has been nothing to sneeze at. 280 00:15:59,840 --> 00:16:02,000 Speaker 5: It depends where you're sitting in the US economy right 281 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:05,920 Speaker 5: as to how you benefit from the US being or 282 00:16:06,000 --> 00:16:08,160 Speaker 5: are hurt by the US being a reserve currency. If 283 00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:11,880 Speaker 5: you're a manufacturer, you can make an argument that you 284 00:16:11,880 --> 00:16:14,760 Speaker 5: are hurt because your export's are less competitive as a 285 00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:17,760 Speaker 5: result of a strong dollar, although other people will point 286 00:16:17,760 --> 00:16:21,600 Speaker 5: out that actually you can buy imported components in intermediate 287 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,560 Speaker 5: goods for cheaper as a result of a strong dollar, 288 00:16:24,600 --> 00:16:27,240 Speaker 5: and that doesn't matter as much in terms of competitives. 289 00:16:27,480 --> 00:16:29,880 Speaker 5: If you're a homeowner or you're looking to buy a 290 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:33,520 Speaker 5: home in the United States, you probably benefit from lower 291 00:16:33,560 --> 00:16:36,240 Speaker 5: interest rates than you would otherwise as a result of 292 00:16:36,760 --> 00:16:41,000 Speaker 5: demand for US assets from overseas. Likewise, if you're an 293 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:44,800 Speaker 5: entrepreneur like Elon Musk, chances are your cost of capital 294 00:16:45,160 --> 00:16:47,160 Speaker 5: growing up was lower than it might be in other 295 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:50,840 Speaker 5: places as a result of the US's reserve currency status. 296 00:16:50,960 --> 00:16:53,520 Speaker 5: So the issue that we have here now is that 297 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:58,280 Speaker 5: it's the manufacturers and the protectionists who are driving the 298 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:03,840 Speaker 5: view of the dollar, and and and it's a downside 299 00:17:03,920 --> 00:17:06,920 Speaker 5: as a reserve currency. And you know, at some point 300 00:17:06,960 --> 00:17:10,479 Speaker 5: that might shift again. And this gets to a bigger 301 00:17:10,520 --> 00:17:15,280 Speaker 5: issue which I think we was gonna last beyond Donald Trump, 302 00:17:15,359 --> 00:17:18,879 Speaker 5: and that is America's power in the world and the 303 00:17:18,920 --> 00:17:21,879 Speaker 5: place of the dollar in the world is based on 304 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:25,800 Speaker 5: decades of trust, right of building trust, It's based on 305 00:17:25,880 --> 00:17:30,800 Speaker 5: legal certainty. It's based on this idea of America as 306 00:17:31,040 --> 00:17:34,720 Speaker 5: a kind of having a coherent vision of the world 307 00:17:35,320 --> 00:17:38,520 Speaker 5: that's changed over the last decade. Right, We've kind of 308 00:17:38,560 --> 00:17:41,960 Speaker 5: flipped back and forth. We go from a big government 309 00:17:42,320 --> 00:17:47,360 Speaker 5: paradigm under Joe Biden to now a small government paradigm 310 00:17:47,680 --> 00:17:51,160 Speaker 5: under Donald Trump. We've gone from a kind of gentle 311 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,560 Speaker 5: giant view of a superpower under Joe Biden and Barack 312 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:59,400 Speaker 5: Obama to one of you know, the big gorilla kind 313 00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:02,199 Speaker 5: of rampage through the world under Donald Trump. And I 314 00:18:02,200 --> 00:18:06,119 Speaker 5: think that issue of trust, that issue of certainty, and 315 00:18:06,200 --> 00:18:09,360 Speaker 5: what America is and what America wants and what America 316 00:18:09,480 --> 00:18:15,760 Speaker 5: offers that going away is perhaps more damaging to American 317 00:18:15,840 --> 00:18:18,760 Speaker 5: power than any of these kind of little bits of 318 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:22,719 Speaker 5: policy that people like Stephen Meyron lay out in this paper. 319 00:18:22,960 --> 00:18:24,520 Speaker 4: Okay, so there's a final chunk of things that I 320 00:18:24,520 --> 00:18:25,960 Speaker 4: just want to get to because all of this sounds 321 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:28,240 Speaker 4: a bit ephemeral and sort of we're talking about this 322 00:18:28,359 --> 00:18:30,520 Speaker 4: paper and is it or is it not relevant for 323 00:18:30,640 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 4: Donald Trump, and we've probably gone as far as we 324 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:35,240 Speaker 4: can go on that. What I'm thinking about as a 325 00:18:35,280 --> 00:18:38,359 Speaker 4: result of this conversation is, Okay, what we have learned 326 00:18:38,359 --> 00:18:40,280 Speaker 4: about Donald Trump in the last few weeks is when 327 00:18:40,280 --> 00:18:42,920 Speaker 4: he decides that he really wants something, or he wants 328 00:18:42,960 --> 00:18:46,680 Speaker 4: to be known for something like finding peace in Ukraine, 329 00:18:47,680 --> 00:18:51,760 Speaker 4: he will go further than anyone expected to make that happen, 330 00:18:52,640 --> 00:18:56,000 Speaker 4: including being very tough on very close allies in a 331 00:18:56,000 --> 00:19:00,240 Speaker 4: way that we wouldn't expect. If he decides that the 332 00:19:00,280 --> 00:19:02,960 Speaker 4: next big thing he wants is a weeker dollar, then 333 00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:05,720 Speaker 4: we will probably all be talking a lot more about 334 00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:09,840 Speaker 4: a mar Lago Accord or some version of that mark. 335 00:19:09,880 --> 00:19:12,119 Speaker 4: If Donald Trump woke up one morning and decided he 336 00:19:12,200 --> 00:19:14,200 Speaker 4: wanted a week a dollar as much as he wants 337 00:19:15,080 --> 00:19:19,280 Speaker 4: to be known for a piece deal in Ukraine, how 338 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:21,240 Speaker 4: could it go about that? I mean how much, what 339 00:19:21,359 --> 00:19:24,320 Speaker 4: might that look like and wouldn't have any chance of success. 340 00:19:25,080 --> 00:19:27,840 Speaker 1: So this week he's managed to get the dollar down 341 00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:32,760 Speaker 1: by creating growth fears and undermining our long standing relationships. 342 00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:37,000 Speaker 1: I've already mentioned undermining the underpinnings of the dollars status 343 00:19:37,040 --> 00:19:38,879 Speaker 1: would be one way to do it. And more to 344 00:19:38,960 --> 00:19:41,520 Speaker 1: the point of what I think you're asking, Obviously he 345 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:44,440 Speaker 1: can job own the dollar down. He's probably already done that. 346 00:19:44,440 --> 00:19:47,520 Speaker 1: That's not going to be very effective. The Treasury could 347 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:51,080 Speaker 1: sell dollars and buy foreign currency. Treasury doesn't have that 348 00:19:51,160 --> 00:19:54,359 Speaker 1: many dollars, but they could mobilize the Exchange Stabilization Fund 349 00:19:54,359 --> 00:19:58,200 Speaker 1: balance sheet in different ways. The Fed can print unlimited dollars. 350 00:19:58,520 --> 00:20:01,960 Speaker 1: It wouldn't likely play ball, but it could be done. 351 00:20:02,400 --> 00:20:06,080 Speaker 4: Theoretically, does network When one country does it by themselves. 352 00:20:05,960 --> 00:20:08,200 Speaker 2: It's certainly less effective. 353 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:12,000 Speaker 1: I don't think that central banks and financial authorities and 354 00:20:12,040 --> 00:20:15,000 Speaker 1: the G three really think that intervention is all that 355 00:20:15,119 --> 00:20:19,800 Speaker 1: effective absent fundamental policy shifts. Maybe there could be some 356 00:20:19,880 --> 00:20:25,320 Speaker 1: concerted type of intervention operation these days, but again, central 357 00:20:25,320 --> 00:20:28,439 Speaker 1: bank's target inflation, not exchange rates. 358 00:20:28,760 --> 00:20:31,240 Speaker 4: We've already seen in the Ukraine context that he's sort 359 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:33,479 Speaker 4: of crossed a lot of lines that people didn't expect 360 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:35,080 Speaker 4: to be crossed. And it has to be said, the 361 00:20:35,200 --> 00:20:38,040 Speaker 4: Ukraine invasion has caused everyone to do that. We've done 362 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:41,760 Speaker 4: things like seizing sovereign central bank reserves that we've never 363 00:20:41,760 --> 00:20:44,000 Speaker 4: done before. We did that to the Russian Central Bank, 364 00:20:44,320 --> 00:20:46,040 Speaker 4: So I'm sure at the IMF that caused a bit 365 00:20:46,040 --> 00:20:49,040 Speaker 4: of headaches and head scratching whether or not we should 366 00:20:49,119 --> 00:20:51,600 Speaker 4: go there. What are the kind of out of the 367 00:20:51,640 --> 00:20:55,359 Speaker 4: box tools he could use to pressure other countries to collaborate, 368 00:20:55,440 --> 00:20:57,639 Speaker 4: even if they didn't particularly want a week a dollar. 369 00:20:58,480 --> 00:21:01,159 Speaker 1: I recently had to speak on this topic, and what 370 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:04,320 Speaker 1: I started focusing on is not so much currency action 371 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:09,680 Speaker 1: per se, but how to associate currency issues with trade measures. 372 00:21:10,320 --> 00:21:14,000 Speaker 1: So under Obama and Trump, there were currency chapters as 373 00:21:14,040 --> 00:21:16,160 Speaker 1: part of trade deals or discussions. 374 00:21:17,119 --> 00:21:17,960 Speaker 4: I didn't even know that. 375 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:24,560 Speaker 1: So TPP made tackling currency manipulation a principal negotiating objective, 376 00:21:25,080 --> 00:21:28,159 Speaker 1: and there was a kind of a side understanding and 377 00:21:28,560 --> 00:21:32,080 Speaker 1: TPP before it's derailed that the finance ministers would meet 378 00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:33,400 Speaker 1: and discuss these issues. 379 00:21:33,800 --> 00:21:36,920 Speaker 4: That was a trade deal that was negotiated under the 380 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:41,520 Speaker 4: Biden of Minnesota. That's right, yes, with Asian economies. 381 00:21:41,720 --> 00:21:46,840 Speaker 1: But now under USMCA, there was a currency chapter inside 382 00:21:46,840 --> 00:21:50,200 Speaker 1: the deal. If you remember the Phase one deal with China, 383 00:21:50,240 --> 00:21:53,480 Speaker 1: there was a currency chapter. Chinese just committed to doing 384 00:21:53,560 --> 00:21:55,639 Speaker 1: what they were doing, but but whatnot? 385 00:21:56,359 --> 00:21:59,560 Speaker 2: So there's that. Then there was under. 386 00:21:59,520 --> 00:22:03,440 Speaker 1: The Trump administration at the very end, there were currency 387 00:22:03,560 --> 00:22:09,159 Speaker 1: undervaluation countervailing duties a terrible idea as far as I'm concerned, 388 00:22:09,280 --> 00:22:11,719 Speaker 1: but they did assess currency evaluation. 389 00:22:12,480 --> 00:22:15,679 Speaker 4: Could you make it harder for countries to access the 390 00:22:15,720 --> 00:22:19,959 Speaker 4: central Bank the FEDS swap facilities, I don't know. There 391 00:22:20,000 --> 00:22:23,240 Speaker 4: must be a range of things that the US has 392 00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:26,800 Speaker 4: within its gift that are beneficial for other countries financially. 393 00:22:27,560 --> 00:22:30,240 Speaker 5: Look in my senses, he cares about the reputation of 394 00:22:30,280 --> 00:22:32,399 Speaker 5: the dollar and the kind of branding of the dollar 395 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:35,680 Speaker 5: as a reserve currency. And he cares about having a 396 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:39,960 Speaker 5: vote of confidence from financial markets, whether that's currency markets 397 00:22:40,080 --> 00:22:43,080 Speaker 5: or whether that's equity markets or bond markets. There's a 398 00:22:43,160 --> 00:22:47,360 Speaker 5: kind of branding concern around the dollar. I think what 399 00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:49,919 Speaker 5: he cares about in terms of the level of the 400 00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:53,200 Speaker 5: dollar depends a little bit on who the last person 401 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:57,000 Speaker 5: he was talking to cares about the easiest way, and 402 00:22:57,080 --> 00:23:00,000 Speaker 5: Mark pointed to this, the easiest way to bring down 403 00:23:00,440 --> 00:23:03,120 Speaker 5: the value of the dollar, and also by the way 404 00:23:03,200 --> 00:23:05,439 Speaker 5: the trade deficit is to have a recession in the 405 00:23:05,520 --> 00:23:06,159 Speaker 5: United States. 406 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:07,200 Speaker 2: And one of the. 407 00:23:07,119 --> 00:23:10,960 Speaker 5: Things that you've seen creep into markets in recent days 408 00:23:11,600 --> 00:23:15,639 Speaker 5: is this question of whether the Trump administration is somehow 409 00:23:15,960 --> 00:23:21,400 Speaker 5: intentionally trying to tank the economy through some of its policies, 410 00:23:21,440 --> 00:23:24,360 Speaker 5: whether it's tariffs, whether it's immigration, whether it's the kind 411 00:23:24,359 --> 00:23:28,520 Speaker 5: of austerity campaign that Elon Musk and Doze or are 412 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:31,920 Speaker 5: waging on the federal government, but in terms of workforce 413 00:23:31,920 --> 00:23:35,560 Speaker 5: and spending, and that that somehow is all about bringing 414 00:23:35,720 --> 00:23:40,399 Speaker 5: the dollar and the ten year yields down to a 415 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:43,479 Speaker 5: level that somehow is of more advantage to the US 416 00:23:43,560 --> 00:23:45,560 Speaker 5: economy in the long term. That seems like a pretty 417 00:23:45,560 --> 00:23:48,000 Speaker 5: destructive way to go about it. I have no evidence 418 00:23:48,040 --> 00:23:51,720 Speaker 5: that this is actually what the Trump administration is thinking, 419 00:23:51,760 --> 00:23:53,119 Speaker 5: but it gets to the point of. 420 00:23:53,520 --> 00:23:56,800 Speaker 2: The surest way to do some of the. 421 00:23:56,640 --> 00:24:01,560 Speaker 5: Things that Stephen Myron lays out, other people around Donald 422 00:24:01,600 --> 00:24:05,800 Speaker 5: Trump lays out is to kind of attack America's place 423 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:08,720 Speaker 5: in the world and its growth at home. And it's 424 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:10,320 Speaker 5: broader exceptionalism. 425 00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:14,560 Speaker 4: Well One thing I did learn from spending a few 426 00:24:14,640 --> 00:24:17,560 Speaker 4: years looking at things from the other side of the 427 00:24:17,640 --> 00:24:21,240 Speaker 4: journalistic divide as an official US Treasury is people don't 428 00:24:21,280 --> 00:24:23,680 Speaker 4: even in this administration. I suspect people are not sitting 429 00:24:23,840 --> 00:24:27,719 Speaker 4: plotting to try and force a US recession. But we 430 00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:32,560 Speaker 4: shall see. Mark Soble, Sean Donnan, thank you so much. 431 00:24:32,640 --> 00:24:35,000 Speaker 4: I am struck by the quote actually at the end 432 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:37,280 Speaker 4: of that paper by Stephen Myra, and he says there 433 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:40,600 Speaker 4: is a path by which the Trump administration can reconfigure 434 00:24:40,640 --> 00:24:44,000 Speaker 4: the global trading and financial system to America's benefit, but 435 00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:48,600 Speaker 4: it is narrow and will require careful planning, precise execution, 436 00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:54,200 Speaker 4: and attention to steps to minimize adverse consequences. Well, we'll 437 00:24:54,240 --> 00:24:55,400 Speaker 4: wait and see all of that then. 438 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:58,639 Speaker 2: Thank you very much, Thank you, thanks so much for 439 00:24:58,680 --> 00:24:59,080 Speaker 2: having me. 440 00:25:09,600 --> 00:25:12,359 Speaker 4: Thanks for listening to Trumpnomics from Bloomberg. It was hosted 441 00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:14,880 Speaker 4: by me, Stephanie Flanders, and I was joined this week 442 00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:18,359 Speaker 4: by Sean Donnan and Mark Sobel. Trump Andomics is produced 443 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:21,280 Speaker 4: by Summer, Sadi and Moss and with help from Chris 444 00:25:21,320 --> 00:25:25,840 Speaker 4: Martlu and sound design by Blake Maple's Brendan Francis Newnham 445 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:29,040 Speaker 4: is our executive producer, and to help others find the show. 446 00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:32,560 Speaker 4: Please rate it highly and review it wherever you listen 447 00:25:32,640 --> 00:25:33,400 Speaker 4: to your podcast