Comment by smackeyacky
19 hours ago
I don’t think we have a wide enough Overton window when it comes to economic discussions, the neoliberal revolution of the 1970s killed a lot of little levers of economic control in most post social democratic countries. Instead we were promised a new age of free trade and economic liberalism and one single, shiny lever to control the speed of the economy like the governor on a steam train.
Yet here we are 50 years later suffering booms and busts just like before. Nobody seems to want to acknowledge the failure of 50 years of industrialisation destruction that in hindsight was the inevitable outcome of open trade and the retreat of governments.
To answer the question, yes I think there are other options and trade barriers need to be part of that conversation.
It’s not entirely true. There’s plenty more levers on economy and inflation. This is the main one that central banks have.
For the elephant in the room, the current inflation woes are caused by oil price increase, which is a direct outcome of deliberate US policy.