The new Trump order: global trade growth stalls for first time since WW2

[bemildred]

This is not really a good read, I just wanted to comment that someone needs to tell these "wizards" about the law of diminishing returns. Or, since they are so fond of gas law analogies to the economy, about the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

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Against this the backdrop of an increasingly hostile political climate, trade growth has seemingly hit a wall. For the last five years, trade has grown more slowly than the global economy, a phenomenon unheard of since before World War Two. Michael Pearce, of Capital Economics, says that the “pace of globalisation seems to have stalled”.

Analysts suggest that the kinds of gains witnessed during the 1990s, a period where trade proliferated at breakneck speed, may not be seen again.

A growing populism now threatens to imperial deals that have been years in the making, or even decades. Dutch, German and French voters have voiced their opposition to the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) - a proposed deal between the US and the EU.

In Europe, separationist movements have gathered pace from Scotland to Catalonia. Tensions between Moscow and the West have led to trade controls on imports of food into Russia. Falling commodity prices have led to backlash against cheap Chinese steel.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/05/15/the-new-trump-order-global-trade-growth-stutters-for-first-time/