Ep. 229: Brad Setser on Yen Carry Trade, US-China Trade, and US Profit Offshoring

Brad Setser is the Whitney Shepardson senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. His expertise includes global trade and capital flows, financial vulnerability analysis, and sovereign debt restructuring. He regularly blogs at Follow the Money. Brad served as a senior advisor to the United States Trade Representative from 2021 to 2022, where he worked on the resolution of a number of trade disputes. He had previously served as the deputy assistant secretary for international economic analysis in the US Treasury from 2011 to 2015 and as a director for international economics on the staff of the National Economic Council and the National Security Council. This podcast covers: 

• Yen carry trade dynamics 
• FX intervention 
• Japan fiscal dynamics 
• Can we trust China trade data? 
• Re-globalisation 
• US policy towards China 
• Impact of tariffs/trade policy under Trump or Kamala 
• How US companies offshore profits and reduce tax payments 
• Dollar dominance 
• Books mentioned: The Return of Depression Economics (Krugman), Crashed (Tooze), Lords of Finance (Ahamed), Default (Makoff) 

You can follow Brad on X and see his work here. 

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(The commentary contained in the above article does not constitute an offer or a solicitation, or a recommendation to implement or liquidate an investment or to carry out any other transaction. It should not be used as a basis for any investment decision or other decision. Any investment decision should be based on appropriate professional advice specific to your needs.)