Finally, an opportunity to get my teeth into something classically “asymmetric”: trade.

A piece recently crossed my path, dripping with the complacency of either ivory-towered elites not thinking through the real world; or worse, a Koch-sponsored lobbyist who knows perfectly well the costs of globalisation but wants to hide it in the sophistry of undergrad economics in order to shift the conversation amongst those who do not know better.

It turned out, of course, to be by Dan Hannan, friend of a friend but also the kind of writer who has something of the over-enthusiastic undergrad about him, and is a paid up neo-con – hence the telltale signs above. It was misleading on a number of accounts, and I would go as far as to say, was quite mischievous.

First, the article starts by making fun of Trump’s complaint over German trade policy. Of course, broadly speaking the Germans are exporting a lot because they make great stuff. That’s fine. But the problem is that a good chunk of their competitiveness has nothing to do with their quality of manufacturing and everything to do with a form of currency manipulation, in the shape of the Eurozone. In this regard Trump is perfectly correct to say that they are “selling too much stuff” – just as many would accuse China of the same in recent years. I hope the author was not attempting to criticise the use of simple language for simple people.

Secondly, Hannan goes on to make this statement:

“Incidentally, there is nothing wrong with having a trade deficit with Germany, or with anyone else. Germans can do only two things with the American dollars that they get for their goods. Either they can import American products, or they can invest those dollars back in the United States. At the moment, they are doing a lot of the latter – to everyone’s benefit. The trade deficit is matched, down to the last dime, by the investment surplus. That is why we talk of a trade “balance.”“

This is not entirely correct. The fact is that because it is dollars and not any other currency, the Germans (or anyone else) can directly take those dollars and invest them elsewhere without the US being involved. This is the burden one bears for owning the currency of international trade, the “exorbitant privilege” of being the world’s only real currency. Of course this brings benefits to the US too, principally the ability to print as many dollars as they want and continue to borrow in it, without causing inflation or lowering their credit rating. Nonetheless, America does suffer uniquely.

Last is the issue that has been exercising Trump, Sanders, Corbyn et al (though sadly not Theresa May), namely that not all imbalances are created equal. It is all very well having a capital surplus to match your trade deficit; but the beneficiaries of a capital surplus – financial and real estate investors for instance – are not the same people losing out from the trade deficit. Capital inflows hugely benefit landowners and bankers, but don’t do so much for others.

For most large countries, it would be a pretty sad and politically unsustainable situation to rely only on capital inflows (though small entrepôts like Hong Kong or Singapore might fare better). It would almost certainly lead to unemployment and inflated asset prices – just as it has done in the US. And it won’t be the homes of unemployed steelworker in Bethlehem whose prices go through the roof either; it’s going to be the flats of white collar urbanites in Manhattan.

Herein lies the limitations of much classic economic theory. This is even before we get onto the issues of Europeans freeloading off American defense spending and so on. Really, the question is how on earth do we expect most electorates to digest enough of these nuances to make rational voting choices? With the likes of Hannan doing the talking, in all likelihood they never will.