You should get Noah Smith, the blogger at Noahpinion on Substack.
(Not that I have anything against Tyler. But Noah has been writing on this topic intensively since Trump 1, with a very developed and nuanced understanding of tariffs and the world's central problem, which is China.)
The short answer is: moronic, with no upside. It's short-term pain ... for long-term pain. There's no Trumptopia waiting on the other side.
With any luck, Trump's insanely stupid tariffs will not just wreck our markets and our economy, but Trump and his grotesque MAGA movement itself. Economist after economist--not least Jeremy Siegel at Wharton--has called Trump's proposals the dumbest, most wrong-headed policies since Smoot-Hawley almost a century ago. If even Ted Cruz is starting to publicly worry about the effects of these looney ideas on Republican prospects in '26 and '28, you know something about them is rather awry politically, too.
We will see. The so called “economists”, are all bought and paid for by the very people who robbed the American workers. We will jail anyone who has personally profited from their treason. It is all the fault of over-educated over- white suburban unmarried females who can’t stand their natural god given identity.
I feel for you as your Dear Leader twists slowly, slowly in the wind storm his own greedy, incoherent folly has created for himself and his poor lemming True Believers. No question Larry Summers has been a neoliberal globalist destroying the Rust Belt. But he was dead right in warning Biden he was creating massive inflation. And he was just as right today in warning that either Trump’s tariff tax on the little people to pay for his tax cuts for the rich are here to stay, or if they aren’t, the tax cuts for the rich will simply explode our debt, as Trump’s last unpaid for crazy tax cuts did.
So the last 100 days have brought us the following
1 no birthright citizenship
2. Tariff on every country in the world
3. USAID gutted
4Voice of America gutted
5,FAA gutted. The software to be replaced by software from Elon Musk
6. Changes to Medicaid. Workers fired so Medicaid cannot function properly
7. Changes to Social Security. Offices closed,.workers fired. Fraud of all types claimed but not proved. Will probably be privatized. After a few years will look like our health care. High costs, quetionable service and a few CEOs will become multimillionaire.
8. FDA gutted. Workers fired. So now not enough inspectors to inspect the plants. So we can fore see more outbreaks of E. coli and other infections.
9; EPA gutted. So we will see more pollution in our air, more oil spills, more acid rain and greater use of coal.
10. All inspector generals fired so there is no more accountability in any department.
11. Dept. of Education gutted. So a lot of federal programs bridging the gap between state and national standards will be gutted.
12. Major Law Firms attacked. This will ensure that the government will not have any opposition when they decide to break laws.
13. The NSA, CIA, Defense Intelligence , procedures gutted so no foreign intelligence agency cooperates with us.
14. The DOJ now operates at the will of the president, can persecute and prosecute any person that the President dissent like
15. People will be rounded up by ICE agents and deported to EL Salvadoran prisons without due process of law.
16. With the imposition of the tariffs, the agro market gutted. But to secure their vote the farmers will be reimbursed by the state at the taxpayers cost.
17. Politicians convicted or indicted of fraud will be pardened as long as they swear fealty to the head of state.
18.NOAA staff fired so that the software could be given to Elon Musk company.
These are all I could remember. I am sure there is more.
Oh yes.
19 Universities will be investigated for conformance to DEI and will have their funds slashed if they conform
20. Foreign Students and green card holders will have their visa and green card revoked without a hearing if the state department believes they have expressed sympathy for Hamas.
I would love having your detailed appreciation of the Biden/Harris administration. Reinvention of basic biology, stealing children education from their families, wasting trillions in the green new deal (not even able to start with a normative plug to recharge cars!), leaving Afghanistan with billions in US weapons, inciting millions of unvetted immigrants to break the laws of our country, letting our foes do whatever they want, as invading their neighbor country, build a nuclear arsenal as a way, widely advertised, to achieve Israel annihilation, using the judicial system to get rid of political opponents, and worse, if possible, hiding from the American people that the White House had been high jacked, hiding the fact that the president of the US of was unfit to command, which is probably an act of treason. There is more, like letting and abetting the rise of antisemitism…but that should be enough for you to think about…
Having been an air traffic controller, I got that far in your post and realizedyou didn't know crap about what you were whining about.
How about the losers and unable to comprehend or envision a new world for a break for say, 3 years.
Go read "America is headed for a grim fiscal reckoning | Michael R. Bloomberg". and realize how your selfish poor me attitude is literally screwing over/condemning our future generations.
The pain of Trump is for the current generations to bear. And why isn't the pain to be borne being borne by those who created the fiscal mess? That would be the current generation. As selfish and narcissistic group you will find, who expect others to clean up our mess no matter how much more we create a bigger mess.
As for DOGE, they are doing what the weak people of today are not willing to do to save the future generations. And if you don't have any, that makes your whining even more disgusting.
What have we learned over the last few months, losers are losers who mainly don't care how they stick it to anyone else but only care about themselves. Under the Dem definitions, that makes you all the bad things you claim bout Trump, and worse, some future generations will probably hate and despise you of because with the knowledge of the DOGE employees, who will tell the next generations, with first hand knowledge, who screwed them, how we screwed them and how they tried to make changes to mitigate the damage of today's Democrats who seem to dance with joy over the idea they are screwing over numerous folks today but all of our future generation, so they could keep their life style free from the pain you rightfully deserve.
Cowards and self absorbed whiners. Grow up and realize who your responsibilities are too and what you need to do to not fu*k them over any more than you already will!
Ouch. That is a lot of rhetoric to just tell me that I am wrong.
fine. If I am wrong tell me what I am wrong about. As for,predictions of doom let us start with Reagan who claimed the problem of government is government itself. He then went on to create a whole series of deficits. Then came Pete Petersen of the Petersen foundation who claimed that under the then government, the US was going into bankruptcy by the end of the decade. He was followed by George Bush who ran up extraordinary deficits due to an unfounded Iraq war. He was followed by the 1st Trump presidency which ran up huge deficits to give a tax break to the top 0.1 percent.
In each case it was a Democratic President that rescued the economy.
These are facts. If you have facts to refute this, I am willing to listen
Your conclusions are just opinion and not "fact. It is impossible to make the sweeping generalizations you do in such a short time.
#1. Birthright citizenship is not gone. Certain situations with crossing the border to have a baby in this country just to claim birthright is being saying that is not the intent the law and it should be applied as intended.
Anytime you use the word gutted is incorrect. No action has been taken that such a quick, and inaccurate, statement can be made.
You really need to understand the difference between what is fact and what is opinion. Once you interject opinion, you are no longer in the realm of fact.
And the biggest problem with that is, we've spent 4 years listening to "facts", really distortions and lies, which is what people on the left use becasue they have no rational arguments on their side.
You may be right some day, why the big rush for falsehoods and "spin" instead of waiting and being patient so you can state actual facts about things that have happened? You have four years to make rational judgements based on causes and effects and right now, all you are doing is setting yourself up to be wrong and what good does that do you? It certainly blew up in the faces of the Dems on 11/5.
You are right. I was enumerating the executive orders signed by Trump. Some have been suspended by the courts. None of them have been reversed. Still does not obscure the fact that if not reversed, they will stand.
You should see the video clip of Reagen on Tariffs and immigration.
You should see George H W Bush on the need for Allies and what you can do to hold them close to you
You should read Henry Kissinger on his views of utilizing soft power while projecting a show of strength.
You should follow George Bush and his compassionate conservatism and his desire to expand the influence of the USA by financing the eradication of aids in Africa.
I could go on. But I have cited only Republican Presidents as it seems, you have a repugnance for Democratic leaders.
Trade is a proven engine of wealth creation, a principle economists have long recognized. When people freely exchange goods and services, prices fall, innovation rises, and living standards improve. The evidence is clear—global trade since World War II has helped shrink extreme poverty from 60% to under 10%. Capitalism and markets, while not flawless, are the best system we have to drive that progress. Tariffs, though, throw a wrench in the works. They raise costs for consumers, strain industries that depend on imports, and often spark retaliation that hurts exporters. History shows this: the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930 shrank trade and deepened the Great Depression. More recently, tariffs on steel and aluminum increased costs for American manufacturers, not the other way around.
Yes, some communities lose out as trade and markets evolve. That’s a real challenge—former factory towns or rural areas can struggle when jobs move. But tariffs aren’t the answer, nor is turning to massive government intervention. Big government tends to stumble here—it’s clumsy, and politicians, driven more by elections than economics, rarely get it right.
There’s a better way. Use trade’s gains to fund retraining for workers in struggling areas. Ease regulations so small businesses can grow where they’re needed most. Offer targeted tax incentives for hiring in those communities, without warping the broader market. These steps help the sidelined while letting the economy do what it does best—create wealth.
What team ever got better by ducking the competition?
You want a better idea, let's slash regulations that strangle our communities and slow growth. Let's make colleges grow their enrollments (more supply should lower costs). Shrink the government, don't grow it.
Is it really a good idea to say "this time the politicians and bureaucrats really are going to help the little guy?"
No. But then, Trump and his administration are not politicians. Why do so many miss this very public fact? Trying to figure out Trump compared with party octogenarians of today, is like trying to eat soup with a fork.
Sure but do you also trust the next batch of politicians with the same tools Trump is using? I probably don’t. Trump hasn’t passed any laws here. The next president can do a green new deal version or a woke version of this.
There is no answer at this time. Can you name the next Dem candidate for president? I couldn't for the Dems or Repubs. some Dems are trying to force the party towards the center. No more fringe groups wielding way to much power.
And of course the most important thing, what will the Trump administration have in place by then? I am pretty sure that since reputable peer reviewed articles on climate change debunking all that the Dems and others have spread will no longer be believed by the vast majority of voters or potential voters. It becomes a non factor in the race.
Well you support the largest tax increase in 50 years on millions of private commercial transactions most of them where there were no taxes before . If that is not big government what is?
Tariffs are taxes. Taxes collected by US customs at port of entry. On PRIVATE commercial import transactions. With the intent to nanny state TELL AMERICAN CITIZENS who they should buy from and what they should pay? Biggest government ever to my eye.
There is no "telling who to buy from. You want it, buy it. If you can't buy it in person,, order it on line. You can get anything on line. If things were as simple as those you believe say they are, life would be great. Trump's tariffs have a lot more to them just rising prices on some goods. And quite frankly, it is very naive to think that trying to get us out of the mess our fiscal house is in will have no pain.
In a Victory for Autoworkers, Auto Tariffs Mark the Beginning of the End of NAFTA and the “Free Trade” Disaster
Trump tariffs appreciated by US shrimpers: 'threw us a lifeline'
Find more of your own or live in partisan LaLa land. I am getting tired of being a researcher for all the weak posters on here.
If you like big government when they do something you want then you aren’t much different than some blue haired climate kid that likes big government doing what he wants. The intent is to fine American citizens for buying non American that is how tariffs have their impact. I am happy to buy American if my choice. I reject having the government fining me for exercising my freedoms as a citizen.
This was a fantastic interview. Not what I expected to hear.
I wish the administration communicated better. It feels like this approach could be more refined but at least this guy communicated a concept. Thanks for posting
Tariffs are taxes, plain and simple. Who will pay? American importers and American businesses and consumers, all of whom will pay higher prices and get less quality. Many small (and maybe some large) businesses will not be able to absorb the losses. Who will reap the rewards? The U.S. government will collect the tariffs/taxes, and some companies not very competitive before these tariffs were imposed, will be able to raise their prices on their inferior products. Tariffs are being sold as beneficial to the economy, but higher taxes in the form of tariffs will suppress the economy. China is playing the same game by "retaliatiing:" raise their tariffs on U.S. goods, thus harming Chinese businesses and consumers, and enriching their treasury. I wonder if Xi and Trump planned this as a mutual game of deception, in order to pretend to be strong adversaries, while imposing huge tax increases on the people in China and the U.S. Taxes destroy, they don't create.
American”importers” are parasites. The United States needs to support people who actually build new factories. Importers are just middlemen. Worthless.
In a free market, consumers decide who and what is worthless, not you,e or the government. Importers are trade facilitators, they figure out how to get things from one place to another, working through government red tape and transportation issues and how to negotiate the best prices, in order to satisfy consumers' demands for what they want to buy. You apparently thiink wholesalers are worthless middlemen, that farmers, who actually grow things and raise livestock, should sell directly to consumers rather than sell through wholesalers and grocery stores; and that people should buy their automobiles directly from the manufacturers, at the auto plants, rather than buy their vehicles at car dealerships that purchased their care through distribution networks and importers; and that restaurants should buy wine for their customers at the wineries, rather than through wine wholesalers, wine distributors, or importers. I tried cutting out the "worhtless middleman" for my wine purchases, but it's hard to run to the winery in California whenever I want a nice red wine with my dinner. My state won't allow me to buy my preferred wines over the internet, and there are no wineries in my town. I wonder if you typed out your comment on a smart phone or a laptop, and whether you purchased the product where it was made, or whether it was made, in whole or in part, in another country. Maybe you made it yourself, in your garage.
In the Midwest we have gatherings called farmers markets. Where an open air area is packed with numerous vendors selling their products. It is an excellent place to by direct from the farmers.
Go into grocery stores and there are signs all over saying, what they are selling is grown locally.
Finally there at least five tent areas with in 10 miles of me, where farmers bring their goods to sell.
TFP rightly spends a lot of work and mindshare on geopolitics. Yet the fact that geopolitics is driving current economic policy, and the urgency to adopt it, isn't considered by economists or linked together by those like TFP that cover both. Niall Ferguson is the exception here, but the myopia on tariffs as the only aspect of US economic policy changes is striking.
I am so sorry I missed this. If you will still field a question:
Please tell me WHY we allow the politicians to cry about tariffs adding cost to products and then turn around and TAX CORPORATIONS. Corporations do not pay taxes, they get all the money from consumers. Free Press should do a deep dive on this and stop letting the lie continue. Your team is the best, because I do not always agree with you.
Pretty sure that historically tariffs end up being neutral good in the long term, but highly disruptive in the short term. Given the current complex global supply chain, that short term pain will be magnified at least ten-fold. While this was a “bold” move by the Trump administration, it seems like a short- and mid-term self defeating measure.
It needed to be done. And so far Trump has demonstrated he is the only who has the fortitude and confidence to do it. But what was is not a predictor of what will be.
Just like the claimer we hear all the time, "past earning are not a predictor of future" returns.
At its core, Tarifs were a way for countries to protect their industries from cheaper foreign goods. At times Tariffs we’re also used to prevent dollars leaving the country ( mostly used by third world countries). In modern times , the USA with the highest standard of living, lowere Tariffs to ensure that their populace had access to cheap goods, while also using it as a cudgel to get other countries to lower their tariff barriers., so us companies could increase their sales abroad. In an ideal world every country would export its most efficient product.
But you have to remember that the currency of the world is the dollar. More than tariffs, countries manipulate the exchange rate of their currency with the dollar to gain an advantage. The Chinese did this for many years by artificially pegging their currency at a lower exchange rate to gain a leg up.
But in this political atmosphere, Trump is using the levers of government to extract concessions for himself and his cronies, the country be damned. Hence this assault on every facet of Government, attacks on the lawyers, and a complete erosion of every institution.
But he is just a spokesman. The actual power is in the cabal of so called loyalists orchestrating this breakdown of democracy. Trumps bandwidth is not broad enough to envision all that he is doing.
If I am not mistaken, 70%of Americans didn't like the path biden had us on. (heck 66% didn't like biden) It's obvious the biden administration had nothing to do with "democracy" or any govenrment by and for the people. And how many times did the democrats say Trump was a danger to democracy? Several hundred in a week. And yet you folks keep trotting them out believing all of a sudden people will believe you? I'm beginning to believe that denialism is more contagious and debilitating than TDS.
Once again, if your reference is from the past, it is irrelevant.
You should get Noah Smith, the blogger at Noahpinion on Substack.
(Not that I have anything against Tyler. But Noah has been writing on this topic intensively since Trump 1, with a very developed and nuanced understanding of tariffs and the world's central problem, which is China.)
The short answer is: moronic, with no upside. It's short-term pain ... for long-term pain. There's no Trumptopia waiting on the other side.
Can’t see this yet. Where the link?
Will this be available online later?
With any luck, Trump's insanely stupid tariffs will not just wreck our markets and our economy, but Trump and his grotesque MAGA movement itself. Economist after economist--not least Jeremy Siegel at Wharton--has called Trump's proposals the dumbest, most wrong-headed policies since Smoot-Hawley almost a century ago. If even Ted Cruz is starting to publicly worry about the effects of these looney ideas on Republican prospects in '26 and '28, you know something about them is rather awry politically, too.
We will see. The so called “economists”, are all bought and paid for by the very people who robbed the American workers. We will jail anyone who has personally profited from their treason. It is all the fault of over-educated over- white suburban unmarried females who can’t stand their natural god given identity.
I feel for you as your Dear Leader twists slowly, slowly in the wind storm his own greedy, incoherent folly has created for himself and his poor lemming True Believers. No question Larry Summers has been a neoliberal globalist destroying the Rust Belt. But he was dead right in warning Biden he was creating massive inflation. And he was just as right today in warning that either Trump’s tariff tax on the little people to pay for his tax cuts for the rich are here to stay, or if they aren’t, the tax cuts for the rich will simply explode our debt, as Trump’s last unpaid for crazy tax cuts did.
"Repeating ones self is an age hazard.althugh if itis ritten you can usually catch it." - Dan Brandt, April 5th, 2025 @ 5:10
This you? LOL!!!!!!!!!!!
You're doing great, sweetie. :)
Tariffs explained.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DH9gdy0Nbb_/?igsh=OGx2aXp2Z2E1YjBw
So the last 100 days have brought us the following
1 no birthright citizenship
2. Tariff on every country in the world
3. USAID gutted
4Voice of America gutted
5,FAA gutted. The software to be replaced by software from Elon Musk
6. Changes to Medicaid. Workers fired so Medicaid cannot function properly
7. Changes to Social Security. Offices closed,.workers fired. Fraud of all types claimed but not proved. Will probably be privatized. After a few years will look like our health care. High costs, quetionable service and a few CEOs will become multimillionaire.
8. FDA gutted. Workers fired. So now not enough inspectors to inspect the plants. So we can fore see more outbreaks of E. coli and other infections.
9; EPA gutted. So we will see more pollution in our air, more oil spills, more acid rain and greater use of coal.
10. All inspector generals fired so there is no more accountability in any department.
11. Dept. of Education gutted. So a lot of federal programs bridging the gap between state and national standards will be gutted.
12. Major Law Firms attacked. This will ensure that the government will not have any opposition when they decide to break laws.
13. The NSA, CIA, Defense Intelligence , procedures gutted so no foreign intelligence agency cooperates with us.
14. The DOJ now operates at the will of the president, can persecute and prosecute any person that the President dissent like
15. People will be rounded up by ICE agents and deported to EL Salvadoran prisons without due process of law.
16. With the imposition of the tariffs, the agro market gutted. But to secure their vote the farmers will be reimbursed by the state at the taxpayers cost.
17. Politicians convicted or indicted of fraud will be pardened as long as they swear fealty to the head of state.
18.NOAA staff fired so that the software could be given to Elon Musk company.
These are all I could remember. I am sure there is more.
Oh yes.
19 Universities will be investigated for conformance to DEI and will have their funds slashed if they conform
20. Foreign Students and green card holders will have their visa and green card revoked without a hearing if the state department believes they have expressed sympathy for Hamas.
I am sure there is more.
I would love having your detailed appreciation of the Biden/Harris administration. Reinvention of basic biology, stealing children education from their families, wasting trillions in the green new deal (not even able to start with a normative plug to recharge cars!), leaving Afghanistan with billions in US weapons, inciting millions of unvetted immigrants to break the laws of our country, letting our foes do whatever they want, as invading their neighbor country, build a nuclear arsenal as a way, widely advertised, to achieve Israel annihilation, using the judicial system to get rid of political opponents, and worse, if possible, hiding from the American people that the White House had been high jacked, hiding the fact that the president of the US of was unfit to command, which is probably an act of treason. There is more, like letting and abetting the rise of antisemitism…but that should be enough for you to think about…
You should move overseas. It seems hopeless here with BadOrangeMan.
And so good with Silly Old Man?
A shangri la—Build Back Better! Not a tax at all!
lol
Having been an air traffic controller, I got that far in your post and realizedyou didn't know crap about what you were whining about.
How about the losers and unable to comprehend or envision a new world for a break for say, 3 years.
Go read "America is headed for a grim fiscal reckoning | Michael R. Bloomberg". and realize how your selfish poor me attitude is literally screwing over/condemning our future generations.
The pain of Trump is for the current generations to bear. And why isn't the pain to be borne being borne by those who created the fiscal mess? That would be the current generation. As selfish and narcissistic group you will find, who expect others to clean up our mess no matter how much more we create a bigger mess.
As for DOGE, they are doing what the weak people of today are not willing to do to save the future generations. And if you don't have any, that makes your whining even more disgusting.
What have we learned over the last few months, losers are losers who mainly don't care how they stick it to anyone else but only care about themselves. Under the Dem definitions, that makes you all the bad things you claim bout Trump, and worse, some future generations will probably hate and despise you of because with the knowledge of the DOGE employees, who will tell the next generations, with first hand knowledge, who screwed them, how we screwed them and how they tried to make changes to mitigate the damage of today's Democrats who seem to dance with joy over the idea they are screwing over numerous folks today but all of our future generation, so they could keep their life style free from the pain you rightfully deserve.
Cowards and self absorbed whiners. Grow up and realize who your responsibilities are too and what you need to do to not fu*k them over any more than you already will!
Ouch. That is a lot of rhetoric to just tell me that I am wrong.
fine. If I am wrong tell me what I am wrong about. As for,predictions of doom let us start with Reagan who claimed the problem of government is government itself. He then went on to create a whole series of deficits. Then came Pete Petersen of the Petersen foundation who claimed that under the then government, the US was going into bankruptcy by the end of the decade. He was followed by George Bush who ran up extraordinary deficits due to an unfounded Iraq war. He was followed by the 1st Trump presidency which ran up huge deficits to give a tax break to the top 0.1 percent.
In each case it was a Democratic President that rescued the economy.
These are facts. If you have facts to refute this, I am willing to listen
Your conclusions are just opinion and not "fact. It is impossible to make the sweeping generalizations you do in such a short time.
#1. Birthright citizenship is not gone. Certain situations with crossing the border to have a baby in this country just to claim birthright is being saying that is not the intent the law and it should be applied as intended.
Anytime you use the word gutted is incorrect. No action has been taken that such a quick, and inaccurate, statement can be made.
You really need to understand the difference between what is fact and what is opinion. Once you interject opinion, you are no longer in the realm of fact.
And the biggest problem with that is, we've spent 4 years listening to "facts", really distortions and lies, which is what people on the left use becasue they have no rational arguments on their side.
You may be right some day, why the big rush for falsehoods and "spin" instead of waiting and being patient so you can state actual facts about things that have happened? You have four years to make rational judgements based on causes and effects and right now, all you are doing is setting yourself up to be wrong and what good does that do you? It certainly blew up in the faces of the Dems on 11/5.
You are right. I was enumerating the executive orders signed by Trump. Some have been suspended by the courts. None of them have been reversed. Still does not obscure the fact that if not reversed, they will stand.
You should see the video clip of Reagen on Tariffs and immigration.
You should see George H W Bush on the need for Allies and what you can do to hold them close to you
You should read Henry Kissinger on his views of utilizing soft power while projecting a show of strength.
You should follow George Bush and his compassionate conservatism and his desire to expand the influence of the USA by financing the eradication of aids in Africa.
I could go on. But I have cited only Republican Presidents as it seems, you have a repugnance for Democratic leaders.
Trade is a proven engine of wealth creation, a principle economists have long recognized. When people freely exchange goods and services, prices fall, innovation rises, and living standards improve. The evidence is clear—global trade since World War II has helped shrink extreme poverty from 60% to under 10%. Capitalism and markets, while not flawless, are the best system we have to drive that progress. Tariffs, though, throw a wrench in the works. They raise costs for consumers, strain industries that depend on imports, and often spark retaliation that hurts exporters. History shows this: the Smoot-Hawley Tariff of 1930 shrank trade and deepened the Great Depression. More recently, tariffs on steel and aluminum increased costs for American manufacturers, not the other way around.
Yes, some communities lose out as trade and markets evolve. That’s a real challenge—former factory towns or rural areas can struggle when jobs move. But tariffs aren’t the answer, nor is turning to massive government intervention. Big government tends to stumble here—it’s clumsy, and politicians, driven more by elections than economics, rarely get it right.
There’s a better way. Use trade’s gains to fund retraining for workers in struggling areas. Ease regulations so small businesses can grow where they’re needed most. Offer targeted tax incentives for hiring in those communities, without warping the broader market. These steps help the sidelined while letting the economy do what it does best—create wealth.
What team ever got better by ducking the competition?
You want a better idea, let's slash regulations that strangle our communities and slow growth. Let's make colleges grow their enrollments (more supply should lower costs). Shrink the government, don't grow it.
Is it really a good idea to say "this time the politicians and bureaucrats really are going to help the little guy?"
No. But then, Trump and his administration are not politicians. Why do so many miss this very public fact? Trying to figure out Trump compared with party octogenarians of today, is like trying to eat soup with a fork.
Sure but do you also trust the next batch of politicians with the same tools Trump is using? I probably don’t. Trump hasn’t passed any laws here. The next president can do a green new deal version or a woke version of this.
There is no answer at this time. Can you name the next Dem candidate for president? I couldn't for the Dems or Repubs. some Dems are trying to force the party towards the center. No more fringe groups wielding way to much power.
And of course the most important thing, what will the Trump administration have in place by then? I am pretty sure that since reputable peer reviewed articles on climate change debunking all that the Dems and others have spread will no longer be believed by the vast majority of voters or potential voters. It becomes a non factor in the race.
You have much more love for big government interventions than I do.
I worked for big government for 25 years. I have no love for them. And how you came to that conclusion is a mystery I can not fathom or solve.
Well you support the largest tax increase in 50 years on millions of private commercial transactions most of them where there were no taxes before . If that is not big government what is?
I have no idea what you are talking about..
Tariffs are taxes. Taxes collected by US customs at port of entry. On PRIVATE commercial import transactions. With the intent to nanny state TELL AMERICAN CITIZENS who they should buy from and what they should pay? Biggest government ever to my eye.
When you rely on one source or difference sources with the same ideology, you miss a lot.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-160593070
There is no "telling who to buy from. You want it, buy it. If you can't buy it in person,, order it on line. You can get anything on line. If things were as simple as those you believe say they are, life would be great. Trump's tariffs have a lot more to them just rising prices on some goods. And quite frankly, it is very naive to think that trying to get us out of the mess our fiscal house is in will have no pain.
In a Victory for Autoworkers, Auto Tariffs Mark the Beginning of the End of NAFTA and the “Free Trade” Disaster
Trump tariffs appreciated by US shrimpers: 'threw us a lifeline'
Find more of your own or live in partisan LaLa land. I am getting tired of being a researcher for all the weak posters on here.
If you like big government when they do something you want then you aren’t much different than some blue haired climate kid that likes big government doing what he wants. The intent is to fine American citizens for buying non American that is how tariffs have their impact. I am happy to buy American if my choice. I reject having the government fining me for exercising my freedoms as a citizen.
https://substack.com/home/post/p-160593070?source=queue&autoPlay=true
This was a fantastic interview. Not what I expected to hear.
I wish the administration communicated better. It feels like this approach could be more refined but at least this guy communicated a concept. Thanks for posting
I wish the same of the administration. Your welcome.
Tariffs are taxes, plain and simple. Who will pay? American importers and American businesses and consumers, all of whom will pay higher prices and get less quality. Many small (and maybe some large) businesses will not be able to absorb the losses. Who will reap the rewards? The U.S. government will collect the tariffs/taxes, and some companies not very competitive before these tariffs were imposed, will be able to raise their prices on their inferior products. Tariffs are being sold as beneficial to the economy, but higher taxes in the form of tariffs will suppress the economy. China is playing the same game by "retaliatiing:" raise their tariffs on U.S. goods, thus harming Chinese businesses and consumers, and enriching their treasury. I wonder if Xi and Trump planned this as a mutual game of deception, in order to pretend to be strong adversaries, while imposing huge tax increases on the people in China and the U.S. Taxes destroy, they don't create.
American”importers” are parasites. The United States needs to support people who actually build new factories. Importers are just middlemen. Worthless.
In a free market, consumers decide who and what is worthless, not you,e or the government. Importers are trade facilitators, they figure out how to get things from one place to another, working through government red tape and transportation issues and how to negotiate the best prices, in order to satisfy consumers' demands for what they want to buy. You apparently thiink wholesalers are worthless middlemen, that farmers, who actually grow things and raise livestock, should sell directly to consumers rather than sell through wholesalers and grocery stores; and that people should buy their automobiles directly from the manufacturers, at the auto plants, rather than buy their vehicles at car dealerships that purchased their care through distribution networks and importers; and that restaurants should buy wine for their customers at the wineries, rather than through wine wholesalers, wine distributors, or importers. I tried cutting out the "worhtless middleman" for my wine purchases, but it's hard to run to the winery in California whenever I want a nice red wine with my dinner. My state won't allow me to buy my preferred wines over the internet, and there are no wineries in my town. I wonder if you typed out your comment on a smart phone or a laptop, and whether you purchased the product where it was made, or whether it was made, in whole or in part, in another country. Maybe you made it yourself, in your garage.
In the Midwest we have gatherings called farmers markets. Where an open air area is packed with numerous vendors selling their products. It is an excellent place to by direct from the farmers.
Go into grocery stores and there are signs all over saying, what they are selling is grown locally.
Finally there at least five tent areas with in 10 miles of me, where farmers bring their goods to sell.
TFP rightly spends a lot of work and mindshare on geopolitics. Yet the fact that geopolitics is driving current economic policy, and the urgency to adopt it, isn't considered by economists or linked together by those like TFP that cover both. Niall Ferguson is the exception here, but the myopia on tariffs as the only aspect of US economic policy changes is striking.
What additional economic policies are you referring to?
I am so sorry I missed this. If you will still field a question:
Please tell me WHY we allow the politicians to cry about tariffs adding cost to products and then turn around and TAX CORPORATIONS. Corporations do not pay taxes, they get all the money from consumers. Free Press should do a deep dive on this and stop letting the lie continue. Your team is the best, because I do not always agree with you.
Is this call posted anywhere?
Why screw around with tariffs; just ban foreign trade- problem solved! What's even better is we could also ban trade between the states.
You obviously don't even a rudimentary understanding of Trump's strategy with the world. Too bad, it's a great learning experience.
Pretty sure that historically tariffs end up being neutral good in the long term, but highly disruptive in the short term. Given the current complex global supply chain, that short term pain will be magnified at least ten-fold. While this was a “bold” move by the Trump administration, it seems like a short- and mid-term self defeating measure.
It needed to be done. And so far Trump has demonstrated he is the only who has the fortitude and confidence to do it. But what was is not a predictor of what will be.
Just like the claimer we hear all the time, "past earning are not a predictor of future" returns.
Hello there lovely FP team! I missed the livestream & can‘t find the discussion online. Please upload! Greetings from Hamburg
At its core, Tarifs were a way for countries to protect their industries from cheaper foreign goods. At times Tariffs we’re also used to prevent dollars leaving the country ( mostly used by third world countries). In modern times , the USA with the highest standard of living, lowere Tariffs to ensure that their populace had access to cheap goods, while also using it as a cudgel to get other countries to lower their tariff barriers., so us companies could increase their sales abroad. In an ideal world every country would export its most efficient product.
But you have to remember that the currency of the world is the dollar. More than tariffs, countries manipulate the exchange rate of their currency with the dollar to gain an advantage. The Chinese did this for many years by artificially pegging their currency at a lower exchange rate to gain a leg up.
But in this political atmosphere, Trump is using the levers of government to extract concessions for himself and his cronies, the country be damned. Hence this assault on every facet of Government, attacks on the lawyers, and a complete erosion of every institution.
But he is just a spokesman. The actual power is in the cabal of so called loyalists orchestrating this breakdown of democracy. Trumps bandwidth is not broad enough to envision all that he is doing.
If I am not mistaken, 70%of Americans didn't like the path biden had us on. (heck 66% didn't like biden) It's obvious the biden administration had nothing to do with "democracy" or any govenrment by and for the people. And how many times did the democrats say Trump was a danger to democracy? Several hundred in a week. And yet you folks keep trotting them out believing all of a sudden people will believe you? I'm beginning to believe that denialism is more contagious and debilitating than TDS.
Once again, if your reference is from the past, it is irrelevant.