The very countries that have spent 70 years building multilateral institutions are busy undermining them. : Most economists wax eloquent about the benefits of “real” global integration — that is, virtually uninhibited cross-border flows of goods, labour, and technology. They are less certain when it comes to global financial integration, especially short-term flows of so-called hot money. Yet today’s anti-globalisation backlash is focused largely on real integration — and almost entirely spares its financial counterpart. The backlash against real integration has, most recently, spurred the US President Donald Trump’s administration to resort to unilateral trade protectionism, targeting China in particular.