Why Trump's Tariffs Represent the US Empire in Decline

[obadiah_vandal]

Excellent video, shame most of the commenters seem to have not watched it.

[Alfonzridesagain]

In 1914 around 70% of global merchant shipping was registered in Britain. Britain also had a near monopoly on global communications through control of undersea telegraph lines wired via British territory - huge economic and intelligence advantage. The pound was the reserve currency and London was the pre eminent financial centre - but we threw all that away for the sake of 'Belgian neutrality'

[progste]

Isn't it more accurate to say they declined 20 years ago when they outsourced all their production?
If these tariffs are an attempt to kickstart a new wave of us based production it could be more of a resurgence if anything.

[jeffrutledge]

The British empire would still be here if they did not attack Germany twice! Germany did not want to fight them in either war.

[Dexit]

I’ve got a feeling that Trump’s call for tariffs is the noise. The signal through the noise is “I’d like to negotiate, give me a call.” The tariffs are mostly bluffs using game theory IMO. Thoughts?

[Desertduleler_]

America fought off having a Central Bank until 1913, this is another reason for America’s prosperity during this period. Every other Empire throughout history went through a similar state of decay.

[arsumbris]

Everyone speaks of Empire like it represents "greatness" but every former empire is left hollowed out and crippled after the period of empire ends. Why does empire obliterate the societies that become empires? The wise move seems to not be an empire if you don't want to be permanently wrecked.

[osujziC]

The fact that the American empire is almost completely informal is one of its weaknesses. Formality adds a layer of robustness. It is easier for something informal to disintegrate.

[classiclibertarian]

While i get the gist, its hugely ironic to me that tariff implementation on one hand indicates the rise of empire (British mercantilism, US protective tariffs during US industrialization, and chinese tariffs largely building out their current industrial rise) while on the other hand somehow mean imperial dissolution due to less political consessions from trading "partners"

[specialforces]

Isn't the moral of the graphic that empires are formed using tariffs and seek to maintain their hegemony by the gradual abolition of tariffs? So it's the abolition of tariffs that's a symptom if not the cause of decay. It would also be good to see lines of personal wealth, adjusted wages, immigration and employment imposed on the tariffs lines.

[Prometheus]

For our American friends one must note the end of the US empire is not the same as the end of the United States as a nation.

[David-qmqj]

The Ottoman Empire had a very regulated economy and trade system. It only started to have liberal trade policy and free markets in its decline due to british and french influence and force.

The Europeans famously invested a lot to find a way "around" the ottoman empire to reach the spice trade.

[nonsuch]

The tariffs aren’t about economics, Trump is using them to strong arm other countries into making a deal over something. The tariffs are not the end goal but the means to something else. So far for this purpose they seem extremely effective.

[AtR-hc]

Tariffs are the answer to building your own country instead of selling it out. You want us to complete with 25 cents per hour in China directly? Tariffs control corporations.

[earlgrey]

So the British Empire starts with the Elizabethan era and ends with Elizabeth II

[SuperRetroBoy]

Seems simple enough.
1. Use tariffs when carving out territory and asserting independence.
2. Use free trade to more easily extract resources from colonies
3. Regret free trade when capital goes overseas and local economy declines
4. Use tariffs to rebuild local economy at the expense of trading partners.

[missing_links]

There's a big difference in the modern era that changes the equation quite a bit: it wasn't possible to outsource essentially all food, raw material, and manufacturing production until it was enabled by rapid global shipping and refrigeration. There's lessons to be learned from history but nobody has actually been in the situation of modern post-industrial nations before.

[robertbuck]

America used tarrifs in the 1800s when it was at it richest, with no income tax also

[raymondturner]

I can't see America just slinking away from its number 1 spot like Britain did without going nuclear first.

[stevenjackson]

The Suez Canal incident was the killer blow for the British Empire. The Empire was mostly gone in the 1960's, but not entirely. It was still shedding colonies nearly every year up until the early to mid 1980's, (the last being Brunei, ruled as a protectorate, on New Years Day 1984) before a 13 year gap till the handover of Hong Kong, that some scholars cite as the true end of the British Empire. It still has 14 overseas territories that are treated with contempt by the Starmer Government, as the recent Chagos Islands affair has shown.
Blair targeted Gibraltar and both the Falklands and Pitcairn Islands with the same treatment. The US replaced Britain as the main Western influence in the world, but now this is in jeopardy. We could be in for a far worse time of it if Russia, China or Iran replace it as the world power.