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The advent of Donald Trump on the world stage has set the ground that could (ironically?) redefine and sharpen liberalism in the land it flourished. The bluster of politics will be tried when it confronts the contradictions that sovereigns and economies, including the biggies, have been trying to peddle over the past few years.
Some of the faultlines are obvious. A government that wants international investors to pour money in its stock markets and promise large investments to create new jobs would soon sense that such an aspiration cannot coexist with high tariff walls to shield local businesses. Protectionism can foster the fear among strategic investors that another round of tariff revisions some years down the line could raise the prices of key imported components and make their big bets uncompetitive. The money that would initially rush to stocks and treasuries could only be another bout of foam when opening the doors to capital account (for foreign direct and portfolio money) clashes with the brakes on current account (for trade).
Similarly, multiple, separate trade pacts with various nations could require navigating a maze of different regulations that transnational companies have lost the appetite for. At a time when countries have taken a few steps, even if grudgingly by some, to impose a minimum tax on income to stop MNCs from
