Jack Ablin, CIO of Cresset Wealth Advisors, appeared on “Bloomberg Surveillance” on November 8, 2018. He discussed the political and economic impacts of the trade war with China. Jack said that although the US mid-term elections saw a shift to Democrat governors in some Midwestern states, the rural Midwest is still firmly behind Trump. He pointed out that the farmers don’t want handouts, they want trade – but this will take time to sort out. Jack pointed out that the latest data show that US exports are down. Looking at it from the Chinese side, President Xi is trying to reform and deleverage the economy, and could find the trade war a useful excuse for any economic slowdown. Jack suggested that meanwhile, as the Chinese currency weakens, it may help mitigate some of the effects by helping improve exports of other products and to other markets.
