On finance, real estate and the powers of neoliberalism
China’s shift from U.S. soybeans to Brazil marks a permanent rupture in American agriculture. Trump’s tariffs and trade wars have bankrupted farmers, raised costs for manufacturing, and fueled inflation. With soybean exports collapsing, farm foreclosures looming, and industrial giants like John Deere cutting jobs, Trump’s economic policies are eroding U.S. prosperity while cementing China’s alliances with Brazil and BRICS.
Trump’s latest economic offensive targets U.S. allies in Europe, Korea, and Japan with tariff hikes, investment shakedowns, and protection-money demands. Germany’s machinery exports face an “existential crisis,” Hyundai’s U.S. plant saw mass deportations, and Japan was forced into a $550 billion payout under threat of commercial chaos. As SCO and BRICS expand alternatives, America’s coercion of its own allies risks sparking nationalist backlash, de-dollarization, and a realignment away from Washington’s control.
As the U.S. pursues a transactional approach to global trade under Trump, allies and adversaries alike are turning away. Trump’s erratic tariff threats and nationalist demands have fractured trust in the U.S.-led order, prompting countries to form new long-term alliances that reduce reliance on American markets.
In this powerful dialogue hosted by Ann Pettifor, economists Michael Hudson and Yanis Varoufakis unpack the deeper logic behind today’s economic turmoil. From Trump-era tariff policies to the rise of cloud capital, they explore how global capitalism has shifted from industrial profit to monopoly and digital rent extraction. Drawing on the legacy of David Graeber, they argue that we are entering a new form of techno-feudalism—where power lies not in production but in controlling platforms, data, and behavior. This discussion is a must-read for anyone trying to understand the real engines behind rising inequality and geopolitical tension.
