Chad P. Bown is co-author of How to Win a Trade War, written with Financial Times columnist Soumaya Keynes. Bown is the Reginald Jones Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and the host of the Trade Talks podcast. He served as chief economist at the Department of State in the Biden-Harris administration and as senior economist in the White House on President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers. He has also been on the research staff at the World Bank and the World Trade Organization, and he was on the faculty for twelve years at Brandeis University, where he was a tenured professor of economics. He received a BA in economics and international relations from Bucknell University and a PhD in economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Chad P. Bown is co-author of How to Win a Trade War, written with Financial Times columnist Soumaya Keynes. Bown is the Reginald Jones Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and the host of the Trade Talks podcast. He served as chief economist at the Department of State in the Biden-Harris administration and as senior economist in the White House on President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers. He has also been on the research staff at the World Bank and the World Trade Organization, and he was on the faculty for twelve years at Brandeis University, where he was a tenured professor of economics. He received a BA in economics and international relations from Bucknell University and a PhD in economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
In Episode 491 of Hidden Forces, Demetri Kofinas speaks with trade economist Chad Bown—a former chief economist at the U.S. State Department, host of the popular Trade Talks podcast, and co-author of the recently published How to Win a Trade War—about what international policymakers, companies, and individuals need to understand about America’s ongoing trade war, what victory would look like for the various parties involved in the conflict, and most importantly, how to win.
The first hour lays the intellectual groundwork for understanding the modern trading system, examining the unique role played by the dollar and capital recycling in concentrating the gains from trade among the owners of capital, and stress-testing the theory of weaponized interdependence through the ongoing case studies of Russia’s war against Ukraine and America’s latest war with Iran.
The second hour turns from the motivations behind the current trade war and what’s at stake to the players themselves, their incentives, and what it means to wage a trade war in the first place—the weapons at each nation’s disposal, the defensive measures to be taken, the strategies to be deployed, and the various time horizons and end games to be considered when fighting one.
They close with an assessment of American industrial policy, including the CHIPS Act and the semiconductor export-control regime, Beijing’s willingness to weaponize its dominance in rare earths and permanent magnets, and three scenarios for how this new and likely durable era of economic conflict could ultimately unfold.
Subscribe to our premium content—including our premium feed, episode transcripts, and Intelligence Reports—by visiting HiddenForces.io/subscribe.
If you’d like to join the conversation and become a member of the Hidden Forces Genius community—with benefits like Q&A calls with guests, exclusive research and analysis, in-person events, and dinners—you can also sign up on our subscriber page at HiddenForces.io/subscribe.
If you enjoyed today’s episode of Hidden Forces, please support the show by:
Chad P. Bown is co-author of How to Win a Trade War, written with Financial Times columnist Soumaya Keynes. Bown is the Reginald Jones Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics and the host of the Trade Talks podcast. He served as chief economist at the Department of State in the Biden-Harris administration and as senior economist in the White House on President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers. He has also been on the research staff at the World Bank and the World Trade Organization, and he was on the faculty for twelve years at Brandeis University, where he was a tenured professor of economics. He received a BA in economics and international relations from Bucknell University and a PhD in economics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
Demetri Kofinas is a media entrepreneur and financial analyst whose mission is to help uncover the hidden forces and pivotal patterns shaping our lives. His contrarian perspective and critical-thinking approach has helped hundreds of thousands of people make smarter, informed decisions. This same methodology has helped guide Demetri’s decision-making as an early-stage investor and as a creator of several innovative media properties and live events.
