When the levy doesn’t break: a trade-war world adjusts

<p>The Trump administration’s dedication to tariffs now seems more fervent than the first time around. <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/03/10/how-trump-provoked-a-stockmarket-sell-off?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Markets</a> are <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/03/11/will-americas-stockmarket-convulsions-spread?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">noticing</a>. We ask what might temper the trade war. Europe’s once-fringe hard-right parties are now <a href="https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2025/02/28/hard-right-parties-are-now-europes-most-popular?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">leading polls</a>, even if not yet leading governments; we look at where things are headed (11:07). And tackling the mythology behind people’s <a href="https://www.economist.com/culture/2025/02/27/finding-meaning-in-peoples-first-words-and-their-last?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">very first and very last words</a> (16:47).</p><br /><p><em>Get a world of insights by </em><a href="https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>subscribing to Economist Podcasts+</em></a><em>. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our </em><a href="https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>FAQs page</em></a><em> or watch </em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gczo71bg1uY" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>our video</em></a><em> explaining how to link your account.</em></p><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>