Export controls on US semiconductor tech into China didn’t stop with Trump.

Less an ideologue or demagogue, the former US Fed chair had an influence far beyond America, reaching Australia, too.

Australia seems set to end this year about twice as dependent on China for its two-way trade than on the United States.

If Alan Greenspan was “the Maestro”, then Fed chair Jay Powell needs also play to the orchestra to resist Donald Trump.

Donald Trump might be a Republican, but not of the Ronald Reagan ilk, and it shows in his approach to China.

The Federal Reserve faces a president from the world of real estate, where low interest rates are always good.

The lessons of the 2008 banking failures look like they have already been forgotten – or erased.

Rather than continue a race-to-the-bottom on company tax, a sensible global regime is needed.

Quantitative easing was misunderstood from the start, and enough confusion still exists to cause over-reaction.

The United States has reached ‘full employment’ but this hasn’t created satisfactory jobs for a significant part of the work force.

If the economy is already back to full capacity, what hope is there for the many Trump voters who find themselves without satisfying jobs?

Perhaps the Fed has up its sleeve a supplementary way of tightening, in the form of unwinding quantitative easing.

China's huge bilateral surplus with the United States - well over $300 billion each year - means it is high on the President's 'to do-over' list.

The key is a vibrant economy that creates new jobs. Trump’s protectionist measures are a distraction from this bigger challenge.