“A User’s Guide to Restructuring
the Global Trading System
November 2024
Executive Summary
The desire to reform the global trading system and put American industry on fairer ground vis-à-vis the rest of the world
has been a consistent theme for President Trump for decades. We may be on the cusp of generational change in the
international trade and financial systems.
The root of the economic imbalances lies in persistent dollar overvaluation that prevents the balancing of international
trade, and this overvaluation is driven by inelastic demand for reserve assets. As global GDP grows, it becomes
increasingly burdensome for the United States to finance the provision of reserve assets and the defense umbrella, as
the manufacturing and tradeable sectors bear the brunt of the costs.
In this essay I attempt to catalogue some of the available tools for reshaping these systems, the tradeoffs that
accompany the use of those tools, and policy options for minimizing side effects. This is not policy advocacy, but an
attempt to understand the financial market consequences of potential significant changes in trade or financial policy.”
Stephen Miran, Former Hudson Bay Senior Strategist
Stephen Miran was Senior Strategist at Hudson Bay Capital. He currently serves as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Previously, Dr. Miran served as senior advisor for economic policy at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, where he assisted with fiscal
policy during the pandemic recession. Prior to Treasury, Dr. Miran worked for a decade as an investment professional. Dr. Miran is also
an economics fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research. He received a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University and a
B.A. from Boston University.