Should-Read: One of the many, many ways in which Steve Mnuchin and Gary Cohn have failed to do their job

Should-Read: One of the many, many ways in which Steve Mnuchin and Gary Cohn have failed to do their job is that Donald Trump still believes that a country the US is running a bilateral trade deficit with is somehow exploiting us—rather than selling us good stuff cheap, and lending us the money to buy the good stuff cheap at ridiculously low interest rates. Step up your game, boys! Please:

Barry Eichengreen: Is Germany Unbalanced or Unhinged?: “The question… is why Germany should seek to reduce its current-account surplus… https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/german-external-surplus-requires-public-investment-by-barry-eichengreen-2017-05

…One answer is to get out of Trump’s sights. A better answer… is that doing so would be good for a world economy in which investment is in short supply, as evidenced by record-low interest rates. It would be good for Southern Europe, which needs to export more, but can only do so if someone else, like the largest Northern European economy, imports more. Most of all, more investment in infrastructure, health, and education would be good for Germany itself. Well-targeted public investment can raise productivity and boost living standards, ameliorate concerns about inequality… address Germany’s economic weaknesses… there are exactly zero German universities in the top 50 globally. More public funds would make a difference…