Far-right leaders across the modern world—Viktor Orbán, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan to Rodrigo Duterte to name just a few examples—have often presided over periods of social unrest and economic decline. In theory, the uncertainty that characterizes their rule constitutes a failure of governance. In practice, however, it often serves as a useful political strategy, solidifying support through both the metaphorical and literal creation of crisis.
The current state of the United States under Donald Trump is no exception. Take Trump’s seemingly irrational tariff wars, which have shocked the stock market, discouraged foreign investments, weakened the dollar and cooled both global trade and international relations. Is the president trying to reshore manufacturing? Pressure other countries into signing more favorable trade agreements? Push the federal reserve to lower interest rates to refinance national debt payments?
Each of these explanations, commonly cited by Trump supporters and critics alike, supposes the White House is applying a kind of economic shock therapy, issuing tough-love policies that hurt the U.S. economy in the short term in order to help it bounce back stronger in the long-run.
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