Summary: The U.S. and its allies are falling behind China in manufacturing, which could have serious consequences in the event of a war. China is aggressively expanding its industrial capacity while undermining the manufacturing bases of countries like Germany and Japan. To counter this, the U.S. needs a comprehensive strategy that includes tariffs, industrial policies, and a unified market with allies.
By creating overcapacity, China is forcibly deindustrializing every single one of its geopolitical rivals. Yes, this reduces profit for Chinese companies, but profit is not the goal of war. (View Highlight)
Democratic countries’ economies are mainly set up as free market economies with redistribution, because this is what maximizes living standards in peacetime. In a free market economy, if a foreign country wants to sell you cheap cars, you let them do it, and you allocate your own productive resources to something more profitable instead. (View Highlight)