Unlike what Donald Trump thinks, big countries can also lose trade wars

Can India export entirely on its own terms, coddling domestic manufacturers while blocking imports? No, that's not going to happen

One of the more mystifying features of a recent economic debate is how many people seem unbothered by the very real possibility of an old-fashioned trade war. Donald Trump, of course, relishes the possibility of such a battle — as he would, no doubt, any war he didn't have to fight personally. Naturally, he's convinced that the U.S. would "win" one.

QuickTake Free Trade and Its Foes

Rarely is much to be gained from unpacking the US president's thought processes, so I won't try. But others, too, are alarmingly sanguine about the effect that a major destabilization of trade would have on