The Real Point of Trump’s Tariffs

The Republican party under Trump has spent the past weeks ripping up the old rule book on trade as they implement tariffs, sending global markets into a frenzy. But is there any method in Trump’s apparent madness?

Joining Aaron Bastani for the second time on Downstream is Marxist philosopher and cultural theorist Slavoj Žižek. Their wide-ranging conversation addresses the current moment: with an in-depth discussion of US trade policy, while also taking in Kafka, camels, and fully automated luxury communism.

Slavoj’s new book Zero Point is out now through Bloomsbury.