“What will you say about Trump and his tariffs if he gets high-tariff countries to zero?” Trump supporters have asked the previous question endless times since “Liberation Day” and surely before. The answer is simple: we’ll be worse off. We will be because the question is nonsensical. Americans will be the losers of Trump’s […]
Even If Trump Gets Them to ‘Zero,’ Americans Will Be Worse Off Read More »
Presidents get the dollar they want, and George W. Bush wanted a weaker one. Bush’s departure from the Reagan/Clinton era of a largely strong, stable dollar as a measure of constant objective value was one of his worst policy decisions, and it’s one that no president subsequent to Bush has chosen to reverse. When
George W. Bush Lit Dollar Fire On Which Trump Throws Match Read More »
He may still turn things around, but it’s a shame about President Trump and the economy. All he had to do was nothing, and what they refer to as “the economy” would be soaring now. Of course, Trump wouldn’t be president if he had it within him to do nothing. Which is why every president
It’s In the Pessimism and Policy Errors That Recovery Can Be Found Read More »
“Macroeconomics” purpports to break “economies” down to cities, states, and countries. Remember this as economists react with horror to President Trump’s surface, or actual economic ignorance. They rightly disdain his worship of tariffs, but do so without ever bothering to contemplate their own magic, one that presumes to measure the “economies” of cities, states,
“Macroeconomists” Don’t Despise Trump, They Despise “Macroeconomics” Read More »
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is a worthless number. The previous truth isn’t a defense of Donald Trump after the 0.3% Q1 GDP decline. Instead, it’s a defense of reason that requires the reasonable to routinely point out the ridiculousness of the most cited number in the fraud that is “macroeconomics.” To see why GDP
GDP: A Worthless Number Meets Mindless Economic Policy Read More »
Particularly amid the economic difficulties brought on by President Trump’s tariffs, there’s growing urgency within the Republican Party to mitigate the tariff damage with an extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). Unknown is why. The tax cuts were Keynesian in design, hence not economically stimulative. Evidence supporting the above claim
What’s So Great About the ‘Tax Cuts and Jobs Act’? Read More »
President Trump famously described Fed Chairman Powell last week as a “major loser.” Trump never disappoints, does he? Whatever his style, Trump’s disappointment with Powell, the disappointment of the polite and economically serious with Trump, and the overall discussion of a fight that Trump ultimately walked back revealed lots and lots of misunderstanding and
Trump vs. Powell: Lots Of Misunderstanding and Lots Of Myth Read More »
There’s foolish and then there’s macroeconomics. Macroeconomics insults foolish. Was “economics” always this dense? Acknowledging that there’s no empirical way to answer the previous question, it will simply be said that the answer is yes exactly because “macroeconomics” has been around a long time. And it’s a fraud. Economies are people, which means there’s
There’s No Such Thing As ‘Rebalancing’ Global Trade Read More »
“Every single decision we made was wrong.” That’s how Nvidia founder Jensen Huang described 1995 in the life of Nvidia. Crucial about the wrong decisions was that Nvidia’s first of many recessions followed them as Huang and a slimmed-down-by-layoffs team fixed their mistakes. The Nvidia anecdote is just a comment that in a free
Don’t Insult ‘Recession’ By Tying It To Trump’s Central Planning Read More »
Before investor Bill Ackman requested from President Trump a pause on his tariffs, he perhaps reasonably observed that Trump deserved the benefit of the doubt, that he’s often forged another path to right to the surprise of his critics, and that investors should support him. Pundits who follow Ackman, including New Criterion editor Roger Kimball, agreed with Ackman
Thanks to Markets, We Don’t Need ‘Wait-and-See’ With Trump Tariffs Read More »
