Trump 100 days: The world and America have changed irreversibly
One hundred days ago, America presided over a world order it had crafted.
That order was designed to ensure US dominance in a global system that had offered growing prosperity, stability and security for decades.
The US Economy had rebounded from the ravages of COVID-19 more effectively than any other, even if enough Americans did not yet feel the benefits to save the outgoing administration from electoral defeat.
But the US was leading the world’s economy in a tentative recovery.
Now all that is in doubt.
Has US dominance been put into doubt? Trump 100 days
To his supporters, Donald Trump has used those 100 days wisely. To their minds, that much-vaunted world order ripped off America and he is rightly seeking corrective retribution.
He has declared a trade war on much of the world. In his eccentric reading of economics, allies that America has traded with most closely have been screwing the US and must make amends.
The result of his tariff policy was a precipitous collapse in faith in America’s once all-powerful currency and the competence of its stewards.
Only an embarrassing partial volte-face averted a truly catastrophic rout on the bond markets and all that might have followed for the dollar.