Donald Trump's tariffs are benefiting rich elites at the expense of the majority of the population, argues economist Michael Hudson. He explains how the US trade war on China is isolating the United States and encouraging countries to seek alternatives. Ben Norton hosts the interview.

VIDEO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGsLDQQuzU0

Read Michael Hudson's report "Return of the robber barons – Trump’s distorted view of US tariff history": https://geopoliticaleconomy.com/2025/04/14/michael-hudson-robber-barons-trump-tariffs/

Topics

0:00 Intro

1:11 Michael Hudson highlights

2:09 Interview starts

2:41 Replacing income tax with tariffs

5:40 Government industrial policy

9:22 Reaganomics 2.0

11:29 Gilded Age

14:54 China's model

17:50 (CLIP) JD Vance calls Chinese "peasants"

18:12 Public finance

22:57 Trade war on China

25:12 (CLIP) Trump demands tribute

25:42 US attempt to isolate China

26:30 USA doesn't have many cards

28:55 Import substitution

30:16 Trump is isolating the US

34:58 US dollar system in crisis

38:03 Reindustrialization

40:06 Trump's bullying strategy

43:26 Destroying the post-WWII system

49:06 Global South vs the West

50:58 Democracy or oligarchy?

56:05 Billionaire oligarchs

56:56 Corruption

58:25 Outro