The Economic Consequences of the Peace
The title of this article was also that of a famous 1919 book by the great John Maynard Keynes. He argued that the Treaty of Versailles that ended World War I imposed such economic hardship on Germany that a European financial collapse and war were virtually inevitable. He would be proven catastrophically right on both counts. In contrast, the Memorandum of Understanding between the US and Iran – also signed by US President Trump at the Palace of Versailles – is unambiguously good news for the world economy. However, it does little to salvage Trump’s reputation or American foreign policy credibility.