Dear Commons Community,

The New York Times columnist, Bret Stephens, had a piece yesterday entitled,   “How Do We Manage China’s Decline?”  It provides commentary on what our country should do to deal with China’s economic dilemmas of high unemployment (21%), a real estate market crash, and capital flight.  He makes several suggestions, all of which make sense,  However, his basic theme is that we live in one global economy and any major wobble for a top player such as China is a problem for all of us. 

His conclusion is that we should pursue a policy of détente.  To quote:

“We should not seek a new cold war with China. We cannot afford a hot one. The best response to China’s economic woes is American economic magnanimity. That could start with the removal of the Trump administration tariffs that have done as much to hurt American companies and consumers as they have the Chinese.

Whether that will change the fundamental pattern of Beijing’s bad behavior is far from certain. But as China slides toward crisis, it behooves us to try.”

Most definitely!

Tony

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