Michael Hudson’s "Trade and Payments Theory in a Financialized Economy" posits that modern trade competitiveness is determined by high rentier overhead costs from the FIRE sector (Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate) rather than labor or production efficiency. The analysis suggests that debt-leveraged housing, debt service, and monopoly rents inflate costs, causing trade imbalances to fuel debt polarization between nations. Read the full working paper at Levy Economics Institute . Trade and Payments Theory in a Financialized Economy