Trade
2025
Would you choose cheaper medicines today, or incentives for innovation that could save millions of lives in the future?
This isn't a trade war—it's a war on trade.
A tug-of-war between tariff hard-liners and pro-trade advisors leaves jittery markets waiting on Trump's next make-or-break reversal.
No doubt many of you are still enjoying a long Easter/ANZAC Day break, but for those of you pining for some economic news, here are a few bits of interest that caught my eye this week—starting with my comprehensive essay on Peter Dutton.
Just like that, and the tariff scare is over—or is it? Global markets rallied 5-10% yesterday because Trump, in the face of a near-certain recession and equity and bond market carnage, backed off and hit pause.
Trump's unpredictability threatens global investment with chaos, zero-sum thinking, and rent-seeking, even if he winds back his tariffs.
He just really likes tariffs.
Did the Trump administration use AI to devise its tariffs?
The US will impose a minimum 10% tariff on all of its trading partners, including Australia.
Please note that I’m travelling internationally this week and will have limited access to a computer, so Aussienomics will be taking a short breather ahead of the inevitable chaos that will be the run-up to the federal election, which—if called by the end of this month—could be held as soon as 3 May.