The Changing World Order: Tariffs, Trade War, and More
Key information
- Date
- Time
-
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
- Venue
- Online on Zoom
- Event type
- Seminar
About this event
The Series in Advanced Political Economy (SAPE) was launched in 2022, jointly organised by Departments of Economics at SOAS University of London and New School for Social Research (NSSR) in New York.
Trump’s sweeping tariffs are often seen as a response by capital to US imperial decline. This view might suggest that workers and capitalists have a shared interest in reviving American capitalism – and that doing so is the key to defeating Trump. In reality, MAGA emerged not from economic decay, but from the contradictions produced by the strength of capital and empire. Although globalization has been highly profitable, this was predicated on the defeat of the working class, the devastation of industrial regions, and growing precarity and marginalization.
Trump was able to channel the resulting anger into a populist backlash, enabling him to gain power within a state that remains formally democratic. At the same time, the longer-term insulation of the state from popular control has allowed him significant latitude to pursue his agenda. Trump now faces a double bind: he must appear as a rebel against the system while accommodating the strength of capital.
To balance these demands, he is attempting to adjust the costs and benefits of empire to both appease business and satisfy his fractured popular base. Yet his actions have exacerbated the environment of uncertainty and crisis that makes MAGA so very dangerous. Confronting this threat requires building the power of the working class – not to restore capitalism, but to fight for a socialist alternative capable of meeting social and ecological needs.
Speakers
The session will run with 1-hour panel discussion between:
Stephen Maher
Richard Wolff
Chair: Clara Mattei
followed by 1-hour open discussion with the audience.
About the speakers
Stephen Maher: Dr. Stephen Maher is an Assistant Professor of Economics at SUNY Cortland and co-editor of The Socialist Register. He earned his PhD from York University in Toronto, Canada, in 2020, and an MA from American University in Washington, D.C., in 2011. Additionally, he holds an appointment as an Adjunct Research Professor at the Institute of Political Economy at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, where he was a Visiting Professor in 2022-2023.
Richard Wolff: Richard D. Wolff is Professor of Economics Emeritus, University of Massachusetts, Amherst where he taught economics from 1973 to 2008. He is currently a Visiting Professor in the Graduate Program in International Affairs of the New School University, New York City. Earlier he taught economics at Yale University (1967-1969) and at the City College of the City University of New York (1969-1973). In 1994, he was a Visiting Professor of Economics at the University of Paris (France), I (Sorbonne). Wolff was also regular lecturer at the Brecht Forum in New York City. Prof Wolff is the co-founder of Democracy at Work and host of their nationally syndicated show Economic Update.
Clara Mattei: Clara E. Mattei is Professor of Economics at The University of Tulsa and the President of FREE: Forum for Real Economic Emancipation. FREE continues the activities she formerly directed through the CHE (Centre for Heterodox Economics). She was previously Associate Professor at The New School for Social Research Economics Department and has been a fellow of the Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton.
Header image credit: Teng Yuhong via Unsplash.
About Series in Advanced Political Economy (SAPE)
The Series in Advanced Political Economy (SAPE) was launched in 2022, jointly organised by Departments of Economics at SOAS University of London and New School for Social Research (NSSR) in New York. We have been promoting political economy beyond university walls and created a platform where academics, activists, trade unionists, and many others, could come together to discuss pressing issues and explore ways to address the multi-faceted crises of our time. As of October 2025, these lectures have collectively gained nearly 68,000 views on YouTube, in addition to the live in-person and Zoom webinar attendees.
We are back this year with new collaborators - Forum for Real Economic Emancipation (FREE) have now joined us to organise the Series, and the Series will be hosted by the UK's General Federation of Trade Unions Educational Trust (GFTU ET). Building on the academic and theoretical discussions we have had in the first 2 years, we now aim to connect them more directly with workers’ struggles. The objective is to reach a wider audience, particularly union members, leaders, and shop stewards through the GFTU’s broad network of trade unions in the UK and internationally. We would also like community and grassroots organisers to join our exciting debates on workers’ fights for a better future.
Please find the 2025/26 course programme below. All sessions take place at 6-8pm UK time.
