Fair trade will bring jobs here that should be here. This isn't only about tariffs. But query why other countries protect their industries. Can't get out of that conundrum can you?
"Note: *The U.S. has free trade agreements with Canada and Mexico and with South Korea that eliminate nearly all tariffs between the member countries. Top U.S. trade partners are ranked by 2024 total bilateral goods trade as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau.
and are you also prepared to pay higher prices for these goods? Many of these other countries, like in Eriuope, actually take care of their people! Like healthcare, education..unlike USA, who cares!
Add the 37 trillion and growing debt to your “prices” and see what the cost of so called cheap imports really is. Your share is over 100000 per family member. This train wreck has been happening for a long time with no one making any effort to stop it.
The pain of fixing it is going to be bad, but necessary
It fascinates me how people become so myopic about this stuff in an infinitely complex global economic system.
One thing I hope market participants can agree on is that energy prices impact the cost of most (all?) goods and services. Part of this administration’s objective is to push down energy prices through increased supply. Who here can quantitatively express how much each say five or ten dollar decrease in crude oil prices impacts inflation both in isolation and against a backdrop of “tariffs“. I have yet to see a comprehensive analysis (and it’s certainly beyond my abilities… but feel free to belly up and pontificate all you “experts” out there).
“Tariffs will increase inflation” they wail, yet these same teeth gnashers have a willful blindness to other levers at play.
Global demand for oil and oil products are slowly declining. Oil companies and investors are giving the fracking patches a wide berth largely because fracking EROI no longer adds up.
"...Technology advances are making it possible for U.S. shale oil and gas companies to reverse years of productivity declines, but the related requirement to frontload costs by drilling many more wells is deterring some companies from doing so."
While overall output is at record levels, the amount of oil recovered per foot drilled in the Permian Basin of Texas, the main U.S. shale formation, fell 15% from 2020 to 2023, putting it on par with a decade ago, according to energy researcher Enverus."
And shale oil from fracking accounts for more than 60% of all oil produced in the U.S. Shale oil from fracking is responsible for the dramatic increase in U.S. oil production, from 5,000 barrels a day in 2010 to more than 13,000 barrels a day. The entire world will be drilling for oil until the last drop is extracted from the earth.
Natural gas and LNG are another story. The cool thing about fossil fuels is that nobody, not even the Geologists, know where all the oil is.
It see it like we are fixing a dislocated shoulder - to pop ot back in is going to hurt, but you have to do it and once you do it is a lot better.
Is it hard? Yes. I bite my nails all the time. But 'the old way' is not working and we are headed for a cliff if we stay on that path. I tore up my last statement and have turned off market alerts on my computer- it is a subtle way to psycholigically discourage you. Think of Jimmy Stewart in the scene of the run on the bank about who is selling and who is buying (Potter).
I suggest you start thinking of Jimmy Stewart standing on an empty bridge, homeless, deliriously drunk and shivering on a cold December night, seriously contemplating the abyss below...
True, but a lot of Americans have been looking at that abyss for some time now. If they have even a hint of a way out, it stands to reason they will support it. At least for a while.
Again (my view): The transformation will come with a healthy human, solutions oriented, truth/fact based American national conversation (as we are attempting here) that will build the healthy truth/fact based reality the free citizens of our Republic deserve and must demand. The voice of truth speaking informed journalism is out there.
(I agree that avaricious self-interest is invested in avaricious self-interest. It has ever been thus.)
Our founding fathers were champions of human moral reason and worked hard to include it in our Republic's Constitution. We the People have entered an entirely new age. The fight is over who will control it. "Ism's" are dead. Hence the war on free speech and civil liberties. Human beings cannot thrive inside a lie. The Republic, the Constitution and the free citizen are the only engines of survival. Depart the psyop and live.
Here's a taste of said "common sense" from Jennifer Burns in her book "Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative".
"What about MMT (Modern Monetary Theory), then — is this the “idea lying around” in the current crisis and transition to a form of capitalism after neoliberalism? Is it Keynesian? Is it Friedmanite? Paradoxically, although it is called “modern,” its foundational roots in economic thinking are actually more than a century old, predating both mid-20th century Keynesianism and subsequent Friedmanite neoliberalism. Like both of them, however, MMT is “heterodox” — a departure from reigning orthodoxy — and yet is still recognizable according to existing thinking. Like prior orthodoxies that started out as heresies, it might be taken up only in a partial and not total way."
I hesitate to comment because either/both from lack of interest/understanding my eyes glaze over economic theory. I,ll only say that MMT makes no sense to me at all, either common or uncommon. One more excuse to have it all without consequence.
They might be too stupid or too greedy (or both) to stop.
And it’s pretty obvious the electorate won’t make them at this time. May take a total financial collapse where there is nothing more to steal or give away.
How does one fix a $37 trillion debt? Just ignore it. Don't worry about it.
Trump is on it. He's definitely our guy on this one.
I've heard from reliable sources that Trump plans on filing for his 7th bankruptcy, but this time on behalf of all the good taxpayers of America.
Additionally, the president is expert at stiffing vendors, contractors, employees, investors, (banks--don't forget the banks!) families of employees, restaurant servers, laundromat owners, personal lawyers, accountants, golf caddies, the other 3 golfers playing in his foursome, Mar-a-Lago staff, Mar-a-Lago guests...his family. So there's some spare change there---walkin' around money for the old Republic.
Trump has a sixth sense that allows him to sniff out other people's money on all seven continent, knows how to raise cash, even if it's, you know, not all above...well, you know.
So: Trump needs to dial up the temperature with his grifting, step up to the plate and help pay down the national debt.
We're very lucky to have a President who is expert with all this.
Europe won't pay for defense (when Trump is out, the US will come to their rescue. There are ~66,000 American troops in Europe. The UK, the big pusher for war, is expecting to increase their European troops to 36,000). And the EU's natural gas cost has gone up ~7-fold since Nord stream II was blown up.
Unless the many-pronged Trump-MAGA agenda collapses first, Trump will be gone by the mid-terms, replaced by Vance. This has been the plan. Musk recently has and will continue to maintain a low profile (for him) with the realization that his 5th-grade antics is not good publicity for someone in the process of ripping off American taxpayers for $trillions.
Then Vance pardons Trump for his federal crimes. State charges? District attorneys will be giving Trump a wide berth whenever he leaves the Oval Office, given the endless carnival atmosphere (and dangerous for jurors and judges) of Trump's legal proceedings to date.
And I'm sure the prevailing opinion from many legal precincts is that the opportunity to jail Trump for his many crimes has come and gone.
Actually it's Russia, not the EU, that's pining for war. Comrade Putin been preparing for armed conflict (with all comers) for more than 20 years. He's had a hard-on for imperial projects since his days as a wide-eyed, jug-eared junior KGB spook.
Europe is merely prudently preparing to defend itself against Putin's aggression, which has been compounded by the U.S. abdication of it's responsibility to honor it's international treaties and agreements.
You can take the boy out of the KGB, but you can't take the KGB out of the boy...
I believe Russia's history shows that it is only defending its borders, because of its long history of being invaded from all sides. We do not have any such history. I believe the argument about Russia wanting to aggressively expand is simply war machine propaganda, the same folks who brought us the Ukraine War and risk of World War 3.
Jettison that belief. Putin's a true wild card. Think "Putin," not "Russia." This is Putin's baby all the way.
"...I believe Russia's history shows that it is only defending its borders, because of its long history of being invaded from all sides."
True, but Russia has an equally impressive history of invading other nations. So, here I believe one nation's bad habit obviates another nation's bad habit.
From 1945 to 1989, Russia was defending a whole lot of borders. Eventually, all that border guarding became exhausting, and they said the hell with it.
Russia brought us the war. Russia invaded Ukraine, Ukraine did not invade Russia. It's not "war machine propaganda." Russia has been been waging a new kind of war on its own---kinetic, stochastic, whatever you want to call it.
Of course this comment overlooks the peace plan put forth from Russia in the months after the invasion that gave the West everything it wanted, save for NATO membership for Ukraine, and Boris Yeltsin and other key Western politicians shot it down.
That's not a peace plan. There's only one viable peace plan: Russians the hell out of Ukraine.
Be in Russia's best interest to do so, too. Russia attempts any sort of occupation they'll be met with thousands of guerilla fighters from around the world.
Not my argument. Let's see if they can afford all those great benefits when 5-10% of their GDP has to go to defending Europe from possible Russian expansion.
You're not mounting an argument. You're whining that some people in some nations (civilized nations) receive fair and appropriate services and returns on their taxes and you don't.
And you either can't admit it or won't admit it. Which is it, Rooster?
Gotta let go of the MAGA sadism and the bad economic analysis, man---all that'll get you nowhere in a hurry.
I am making an argument, that is, I believe Europe's many work/life balance benefits will start going away once each member needs to start putting some money to their defense budget.
You however, are making a logical fallacy as a reply, the classic strawman reply where you pretend my position is something it isn't so it makes it easier for you to mock.
Anything else? I don't believe you are a sincere responder but wanted to give you another chance with the snark...who knows? Maybe that will be the comment that upsets me....
Oh yeah, of course not. But for a while, he just sounded contrary. When he started sounding like a loon (for instance, the United States not being able to fund its defense) I figured it was time to break out the sarcasm.
And with 400million+ guns in this country, anyone invading that doesn't blow everything up is going to get a very nasty surprise.
Guns are a good thing to have in a violent conflict. Artillery, tanks, planes, and drones are good too. A couple of 288mm German K5's tucked inside a mountain top can do some damage too.
Only Israel and Ukraine matter to our politicians. They have gutted America over the last 50 years, probably beyond repair. But many politicians became RICH for selling out.
We have learned, the hard way, that "low prices" come at a high cost in jobs, community, national security, and more. "Free trade" was a ruse to allow US manufactures to export jobs to cheap labor/low regulation hell holes, and then import the goods made there duty free back into the US. Fail.
Well said Pacificus, Professor Friedman's "Chicago School" free market economic theories have never suffered any fair market success; for anyone outside of the private financial service industry.
Yes. If it's good for America and our working people, of course. You clearly won't. And if you prefer "Eriuope" nothing's stopping you. Some even offer 1 euro homes.
"Fair Trade" is a meaningless and obfuscatory phrase that comes with myriad definitions depending on the nation and is not and has not described anything that can remotely be described as national economic policy.
Donald Trump might characterize "fair trade" as "fake trade."
"Fair Trade" is what the regime says is "fair trade."
America is filled with morons, that is why! MFG would take years, if not decades, to move back and are Americans ready to pay much higher prices and/or work for lower wages? Trump's idiocy is emblematic of America as a hole (a hole of Neanderthals stuck in the 1950s). Skim the headlines for your news, think little about the details, easily distracted by moronic matters like trans, illegals or Israel (war criminals) and poof, our pockets picked.
Make no mistake, the GOP is evil and the Dems are right there with them. We are a corrupt nation and our courts have merely legalized corruption. The golden rule of American politics- the rich will get richer at the expense of the middle class. The kleptocrats and oligarchs own and control everything and we let them do it because they say "America first!" Nonsense, lies and scumbaggery greed is USA!! F&ck Yeah!
Don’t you love those that have such criticisms, yet offer no options. Just throw up your arms and kiss your ass goodbye. My stocks are taking a beating and it’s not pleasurable to see, but not to long ago, CDs and bonds were at almost zero percent. I’m not selling and will wait this out. Watching the corruption doors open is pure enjoyment, watching congress squirm is fun as they’ve all got their hands in the cookie jar. Trump bully’s those that he can’t fire, that’s him. But, he’s ended up being right most of the time and my stocks are still profitable, even now, because of his first term. I’ll take my chances with him. Sure beats an entire lockstep team that told us Biden was on top of his game, all was good…believe your lying eyes…
Having grown up in the rust belt and witnessing the devastation firsthand, I am cautiously optimistic about these commitments. It would be a wondrous thing to see.
One thing we can be sure of, these jobs won’t be in the same areas as they were in those old days. J&J and Eli Lilly and Apple and Honda and many more are committed to massive expansion here, but it’ll be in new locations most likely. Crime alone rules out much of California for example; old factories are so far behind the modern innovations that it’s faster and cheaper to build all new rather than re-tool for example; transportation hubs have changed dramatically for example.
Of course. My comment was meant to be holistic, not specific. A resurgence in the opportunity for a living wage anywhere in America (hopefully multiple places) is a good thing in my view and will bring some much needed vitality back to our country.
Fun fact -the middle class in the U.S. is in the top 1 percent of wealth in the world. Gee, if we only had a one world communist government to take on property ownership or Kulaks.
What I think you will find that much of what Trump is doing is explained in detail here. It is strategic, with things like Greenland, the Panama Canal and much else interconnected.
If afterwards you are looking for someone to blame, Mr. Taibbi has very clearly pointed you in a specific direction. Tariffs may be the trigger, as Deep Seek was before, for a stock market selloff, but look no further than the Fed for the problem.
My guess as to why a lot of people can’t see the strategy in play (beyond tds) is because they have never owned a business. Trump thinks and acts like a CEO. He thinks about the govt as if it were a corporation and his actions are all geared toward the best interests of this corporation.
Personally, I think it’s great. When is the last time we had a president who actually gave a shit about America? This will play out and things will get better for the little guy. Sick to death of people deliberately misunderstanding and being angry that someone moved their cheese.
I'm not a Trumpie, but I can explain. Tariffs make foreign goods more expensive. If there are local industries, then this enables them to raise their prices. It also enables local firms to raise prices for local labour. So far, so New Deal. But tariffs create opportunities for local industry to start up, employ local workers. So, tariffs will put up prices. Probably. But will likely employ more local labour AND drive up wage rates. Again, very New Deal. Who will pay the higher prices? Certainly the elite. They'll pay more for their Ferrari's, expensive jewellery, perfume, labour to mow their lawns, service their pools, serve their margaritas. The rest? The working class will probably net benefit, and psychologically from having better paid jobs. Middle class? Possibly a wash, but dunno, really. Elite? Worse off. That's really why they're squealing so much.
Well, for heavens sake don’t rely on the main stream media for the education on tariffs. They’ll offer an education on fear only. This country has a deep history on tariffs.
Tariffs aren't bringing manufacturing back, they're a ruse. That's why nobody in Trumplandia can explain them. MIGA.
Fair trade will bring jobs here that should be here. This isn't only about tariffs. But query why other countries protect their industries. Can't get out of that conundrum can you?
"Fair trade"? All of the US trade partners have higher tariffs than the US: reuters.com/graphics/USA-TRUMP/TARIFFS/jnpwjmqklvw/
Reciprocal tariffs shouldn't allow this.
Vivala Chicago School of (Friedmanite) Economics!
Attribution:
"Note: *The U.S. has free trade agreements with Canada and Mexico and with South Korea that eliminate nearly all tariffs between the member countries. Top U.S. trade partners are ranked by 2024 total bilateral goods trade as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau.
By David Lawder Source: World Trade Organization"
and are you also prepared to pay higher prices for these goods? Many of these other countries, like in Eriuope, actually take care of their people! Like healthcare, education..unlike USA, who cares!
Higher prices?
Add the 37 trillion and growing debt to your “prices” and see what the cost of so called cheap imports really is. Your share is over 100000 per family member. This train wreck has been happening for a long time with no one making any effort to stop it.
The pain of fixing it is going to be bad, but necessary
It fascinates me how people become so myopic about this stuff in an infinitely complex global economic system.
One thing I hope market participants can agree on is that energy prices impact the cost of most (all?) goods and services. Part of this administration’s objective is to push down energy prices through increased supply. Who here can quantitatively express how much each say five or ten dollar decrease in crude oil prices impacts inflation both in isolation and against a backdrop of “tariffs“. I have yet to see a comprehensive analysis (and it’s certainly beyond my abilities… but feel free to belly up and pontificate all you “experts” out there).
“Tariffs will increase inflation” they wail, yet these same teeth gnashers have a willful blindness to other levers at play.
Global demand for oil and oil products are slowly declining. Oil companies and investors are giving the fracking patches a wide berth largely because fracking EROI no longer adds up.
"...Technology advances are making it possible for U.S. shale oil and gas companies to reverse years of productivity declines, but the related requirement to frontload costs by drilling many more wells is deterring some companies from doing so."
While overall output is at record levels, the amount of oil recovered per foot drilled in the Permian Basin of Texas, the main U.S. shale formation, fell 15% from 2020 to 2023, putting it on par with a decade ago, according to energy researcher Enverus."
And shale oil from fracking accounts for more than 60% of all oil produced in the U.S. Shale oil from fracking is responsible for the dramatic increase in U.S. oil production, from 5,000 barrels a day in 2010 to more than 13,000 barrels a day. The entire world will be drilling for oil until the last drop is extracted from the earth.
Natural gas and LNG are another story. The cool thing about fossil fuels is that nobody, not even the Geologists, know where all the oil is.
Oil super-cheap right now. Fracking has changed world more than smartphones and AI combined, even if nobody realizes it.
It provided us and the global market a little bit more oil for a few years--that's about it thus far.
People are myopic BECAUSE of our infinitely complex global economic system.
Yes. Unfortunately a lack of self awareness around that fact doesn’t seem to stop folks from having strong opinions.
It see it like we are fixing a dislocated shoulder - to pop ot back in is going to hurt, but you have to do it and once you do it is a lot better.
Is it hard? Yes. I bite my nails all the time. But 'the old way' is not working and we are headed for a cliff if we stay on that path. I tore up my last statement and have turned off market alerts on my computer- it is a subtle way to psycholigically discourage you. Think of Jimmy Stewart in the scene of the run on the bank about who is selling and who is buying (Potter).
I suggest you start thinking of Jimmy Stewart standing on an empty bridge, homeless, deliriously drunk and shivering on a cold December night, seriously contemplating the abyss below...
True, but a lot of Americans have been looking at that abyss for some time now. If they have even a hint of a way out, it stands to reason they will support it. At least for a while.
The only people who can "fix" this mess are the very same people who created this mess and I'm here to tell you they ain't got plans to fix this mess.
In their minds it's neither a "mess" nor something that needs "fixing."
Again (my view): The transformation will come with a healthy human, solutions oriented, truth/fact based American national conversation (as we are attempting here) that will build the healthy truth/fact based reality the free citizens of our Republic deserve and must demand. The voice of truth speaking informed journalism is out there.
(I agree that avaricious self-interest is invested in avaricious self-interest. It has ever been thus.)
Our founding fathers were champions of human moral reason and worked hard to include it in our Republic's Constitution. We the People have entered an entirely new age. The fight is over who will control it. "Ism's" are dead. Hence the war on free speech and civil liberties. Human beings cannot thrive inside a lie. The Republic, the Constitution and the free citizen are the only engines of survival. Depart the psyop and live.
I love your idealism, which is actually common sense (too bad common sense isn't common).
Here's a taste of said "common sense" from Jennifer Burns in her book "Milton Friedman: The Last Conservative".
"What about MMT (Modern Monetary Theory), then — is this the “idea lying around” in the current crisis and transition to a form of capitalism after neoliberalism? Is it Keynesian? Is it Friedmanite? Paradoxically, although it is called “modern,” its foundational roots in economic thinking are actually more than a century old, predating both mid-20th century Keynesianism and subsequent Friedmanite neoliberalism. Like both of them, however, MMT is “heterodox” — a departure from reigning orthodoxy — and yet is still recognizable according to existing thinking. Like prior orthodoxies that started out as heresies, it might be taken up only in a partial and not total way."
This is fascinating on its own terms, but I remain puzzled as to how it relates to MMT:
https://platypus1917.org/2024/04/01/we-are-all-friedmanites-now-a-review-of-jennifer-burnss-milton-friedman/
I hesitate to comment because either/both from lack of interest/understanding my eyes glaze over economic theory. I,ll only say that MMT makes no sense to me at all, either common or uncommon. One more excuse to have it all without consequence.
annnd????
Possibly
They might be too stupid or too greedy (or both) to stop.
And it’s pretty obvious the electorate won’t make them at this time. May take a total financial collapse where there is nothing more to steal or give away.
Such a dismal view - and probably close to the truth.
Might as well double that number if you're a taxpayer ...
At least
How does one fix a $37 trillion debt? Just ignore it. Don't worry about it.
Trump is on it. He's definitely our guy on this one.
I've heard from reliable sources that Trump plans on filing for his 7th bankruptcy, but this time on behalf of all the good taxpayers of America.
Additionally, the president is expert at stiffing vendors, contractors, employees, investors, (banks--don't forget the banks!) families of employees, restaurant servers, laundromat owners, personal lawyers, accountants, golf caddies, the other 3 golfers playing in his foursome, Mar-a-Lago staff, Mar-a-Lago guests...his family. So there's some spare change there---walkin' around money for the old Republic.
Trump has a sixth sense that allows him to sniff out other people's money on all seven continent, knows how to raise cash, even if it's, you know, not all above...well, you know.
So: Trump needs to dial up the temperature with his grifting, step up to the plate and help pay down the national debt.
We're very lucky to have a President who is expert with all this.
Fire everyone in congress that thinks like you do. That would be a good start.
Amen
"Stop" what, exactly?
Printing money to spend and calling it borrowing
Yeah let's see how long that lasts now that Europe can no longer count on the US to pay for their defense.
Europe won't pay for defense (when Trump is out, the US will come to their rescue. There are ~66,000 American troops in Europe. The UK, the big pusher for war, is expecting to increase their European troops to 36,000). And the EU's natural gas cost has gone up ~7-fold since Nord stream II was blown up.
We'll see. If I had a nickel for every time some rando proclaimed Trump's doom I could have retired years ago.
Unless the many-pronged Trump-MAGA agenda collapses first, Trump will be gone by the mid-terms, replaced by Vance. This has been the plan. Musk recently has and will continue to maintain a low profile (for him) with the realization that his 5th-grade antics is not good publicity for someone in the process of ripping off American taxpayers for $trillions.
Then Vance pardons Trump for his federal crimes. State charges? District attorneys will be giving Trump a wide berth whenever he leaves the Oval Office, given the endless carnival atmosphere (and dangerous for jurors and judges) of Trump's legal proceedings to date.
And I'm sure the prevailing opinion from many legal precincts is that the opportunity to jail Trump for his many crimes has come and gone.
How's that crack pipe hitting? Your delusions are vivid and paranoid.
You oughta see'em when I'm all wigged out on mushrooms.
Oh yeah? Did you see the tiny little elves that make up reality?
Damn. Thanks for the figures.
I don't see how Europe can unravel the nanny state, and its economy is already fraying/frayed. I don’t,t see self-defense in the cards either.
Actually it's Russia, not the EU, that's pining for war. Comrade Putin been preparing for armed conflict (with all comers) for more than 20 years. He's had a hard-on for imperial projects since his days as a wide-eyed, jug-eared junior KGB spook.
Europe is merely prudently preparing to defend itself against Putin's aggression, which has been compounded by the U.S. abdication of it's responsibility to honor it's international treaties and agreements.
You can take the boy out of the KGB, but you can't take the KGB out of the boy...
I believe Russia's history shows that it is only defending its borders, because of its long history of being invaded from all sides. We do not have any such history. I believe the argument about Russia wanting to aggressively expand is simply war machine propaganda, the same folks who brought us the Ukraine War and risk of World War 3.
Jettison that belief. Putin's a true wild card. Think "Putin," not "Russia." This is Putin's baby all the way.
"...I believe Russia's history shows that it is only defending its borders, because of its long history of being invaded from all sides."
True, but Russia has an equally impressive history of invading other nations. So, here I believe one nation's bad habit obviates another nation's bad habit.
From 1945 to 1989, Russia was defending a whole lot of borders. Eventually, all that border guarding became exhausting, and they said the hell with it.
Russia brought us the war. Russia invaded Ukraine, Ukraine did not invade Russia. It's not "war machine propaganda." Russia has been been waging a new kind of war on its own---kinetic, stochastic, whatever you want to call it.
I urge you to read the NYTs article on our hand in the Urkraine situation, run from a base in German.
Got a link?
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/29/world/europe/us-ukraine-military-war-wiesbaden.html
This is the article.
I didn't read it i listened to a discussion about it on Racket News
Of course this comment overlooks the peace plan put forth from Russia in the months after the invasion that gave the West everything it wanted, save for NATO membership for Ukraine, and Boris Yeltsin and other key Western politicians shot it down.
That's not a peace plan. There's only one viable peace plan: Russians the hell out of Ukraine.
Be in Russia's best interest to do so, too. Russia attempts any sort of occupation they'll be met with thousands of guerilla fighters from around the world.
Ukraine = Afghanistan 2.0 for the Kremlin.
Uh huh. So when you heading over to the Ukrainian front line to do your part?
Things change, sorry those changes aren't your personal preference.
"The 1980's called. . . "
"The 1980's called. . . "
That's a statement that's more accurate than you could possibly know.
Europe will be plenty fine.
Not my argument. Let's see if they can afford all those great benefits when 5-10% of their GDP has to go to defending Europe from possible Russian expansion.
You're not mounting an argument. You're whining that some people in some nations (civilized nations) receive fair and appropriate services and returns on their taxes and you don't.
And you either can't admit it or won't admit it. Which is it, Rooster?
Gotta let go of the MAGA sadism and the bad economic analysis, man---all that'll get you nowhere in a hurry.
I am making an argument, that is, I believe Europe's many work/life balance benefits will start going away once each member needs to start putting some money to their defense budget.
You however, are making a logical fallacy as a reply, the classic strawman reply where you pretend my position is something it isn't so it makes it easier for you to mock.
Anything else? I don't believe you are a sincere responder but wanted to give you another chance with the snark...who knows? Maybe that will be the comment that upsets me....
The U.S. is a few years away from not being able to pay for their own defense.
Perhaps when Russia or China invades, candyass Europe will throw us a few divisions and nancy-boy France more than a few LeClerc XLRs.
Europe has nuclear weapons and modern delivery systems. Russia is not going to invade it.
The wouldn't have invaded Ukraine, either, if Ukraine hadn't given up THEIR nukes. Deterrence is real.
That was a real bad move for Ukraine, in retrospect.
I meant invading the U.S. (sarcasm alert).
Your comments are so ridiculous and bombastic, sarcasm isn't a tool you will be able to wield effectively.
That's disappointing. Any suggested alternatives?
Delete your account and salt the earth so it never returns.
For a while there, based on your comments, I thought you were being serious.
Uh no. That gentleman is the exact opposite of serious. Think of a troll under a bridge.
Oh yeah, of course not. But for a while, he just sounded contrary. When he started sounding like a loon (for instance, the United States not being able to fund its defense) I figured it was time to break out the sarcasm.
And with 400million+ guns in this country, anyone invading that doesn't blow everything up is going to get a very nasty surprise.
Guns are a good thing to have in a violent conflict. Artillery, tanks, planes, and drones are good too. A couple of 288mm German K5's tucked inside a mountain top can do some damage too.
Sorry. Next time we talk shit about you, we'll do it in a whisper.
Only Israel and Ukraine matter to our politicians. They have gutted America over the last 50 years, probably beyond repair. But many politicians became RICH for selling out.
We have learned, the hard way, that "low prices" come at a high cost in jobs, community, national security, and more. "Free trade" was a ruse to allow US manufactures to export jobs to cheap labor/low regulation hell holes, and then import the goods made there duty free back into the US. Fail.
Well said Pacificus, Professor Friedman's "Chicago School" free market economic theories have never suffered any fair market success; for anyone outside of the private financial service industry.
Why am I the first person to like the most concise recap of our conundrum I've seen in a while?
Lol I just woke up (different time zone for another week)
Yes. If it's good for America and our working people, of course. You clearly won't. And if you prefer "Eriuope" nothing's stopping you. Some even offer 1 euro homes.
No, we take care of their people, and have done so since WWII. That's one of the reasons for Trump's overall economic plan
I really like this distinction between jobs that should and should not be here.
"Fair Trade" is a meaningless and obfuscatory phrase that comes with myriad definitions depending on the nation and is not and has not described anything that can remotely be described as national economic policy.
Donald Trump might characterize "fair trade" as "fake trade."
"Fair Trade" is what the regime says is "fair trade."
More arrant bullshit. There is an objective standard of fairness and it was not being applied to the US.
"errant"
Where can I download a PDF of your "objective standard of fairness?" I'd like a copy for when the IRS swings by my place in a few months.
"...There is an objective standard of fairness and it was not being applied to the US..."
Ah, the poor little superpower is being bullied by all the effete Europeans! Good thing Don Trump picked up our ball and went home.
America is filled with morons, that is why! MFG would take years, if not decades, to move back and are Americans ready to pay much higher prices and/or work for lower wages? Trump's idiocy is emblematic of America as a hole (a hole of Neanderthals stuck in the 1950s). Skim the headlines for your news, think little about the details, easily distracted by moronic matters like trans, illegals or Israel (war criminals) and poof, our pockets picked.
Make no mistake, the GOP is evil and the Dems are right there with them. We are a corrupt nation and our courts have merely legalized corruption. The golden rule of American politics- the rich will get richer at the expense of the middle class. The kleptocrats and oligarchs own and control everything and we let them do it because they say "America first!" Nonsense, lies and scumbaggery greed is USA!! F&ck Yeah!
Poster child for the angry, self-worshipping liberal who looks down on everyone else.
Don’t you love those that have such criticisms, yet offer no options. Just throw up your arms and kiss your ass goodbye. My stocks are taking a beating and it’s not pleasurable to see, but not to long ago, CDs and bonds were at almost zero percent. I’m not selling and will wait this out. Watching the corruption doors open is pure enjoyment, watching congress squirm is fun as they’ve all got their hands in the cookie jar. Trump bully’s those that he can’t fire, that’s him. But, he’s ended up being right most of the time and my stocks are still profitable, even now, because of his first term. I’ll take my chances with him. Sure beats an entire lockstep team that told us Biden was on top of his game, all was good…believe your lying eyes…
If you're planning on "riding this out," I'd start looking for a dry cave to temporarily call home, if I were you.
Until the warlords arrive to "ride" you out of said dry cave, one way or another.
No, it,s just frustration.
Nah. It’s not 1950 or even 1980.
Major factories even in heavy industry these days are going from groundbreaking to operation in 18 months.
Read up on Scott Bessent, he’s gone into detail on how much money has already been booked in this area
Having grown up in the rust belt and witnessing the devastation firsthand, I am cautiously optimistic about these commitments. It would be a wondrous thing to see.
One thing we can be sure of, these jobs won’t be in the same areas as they were in those old days. J&J and Eli Lilly and Apple and Honda and many more are committed to massive expansion here, but it’ll be in new locations most likely. Crime alone rules out much of California for example; old factories are so far behind the modern innovations that it’s faster and cheaper to build all new rather than re-tool for example; transportation hubs have changed dramatically for example.
Of course. My comment was meant to be holistic, not specific. A resurgence in the opportunity for a living wage anywhere in America (hopefully multiple places) is a good thing in my view and will bring some much needed vitality back to our country.
Meanwhile, I am sure when the Dems trot out their latest elite corrupt neocon warhawk you will be lining up to vote for that person.
Fun fact -the middle class in the U.S. is in the top 1 percent of wealth in the world. Gee, if we only had a one world communist government to take on property ownership or Kulaks.
Let me help you out, assuming your plea is genuine and not some anti-Trump rant.
Check out Michael Shellenberger and Oren Cass on the topic here https://substack.com/home/post/p-160593070
Check out Yanis Varoufakis on UnHerd at https://unherd.com/2025/04/will-liberation-day-transform-the-world/ and https://unherd.com/2025/02/why-trumps-tariffs-are-a-masterplan/
Check out Michael Every at https://www.rabobank.com/knowledge/our-experts/011085368/michael-every or watch here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7EwfjK0FP0
[Rabobank a few years ago had a report Deep Ship. There is now an office of shipping at the White House.]
Here is an excellent interview from the Hoover Institution covering China and trade https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goEU7C1xmis
What I think you will find that much of what Trump is doing is explained in detail here. It is strategic, with things like Greenland, the Panama Canal and much else interconnected.
If afterwards you are looking for someone to blame, Mr. Taibbi has very clearly pointed you in a specific direction. Tariffs may be the trigger, as Deep Seek was before, for a stock market selloff, but look no further than the Fed for the problem.
My guess as to why a lot of people can’t see the strategy in play (beyond tds) is because they have never owned a business. Trump thinks and acts like a CEO. He thinks about the govt as if it were a corporation and his actions are all geared toward the best interests of this corporation.
Personally, I think it’s great. When is the last time we had a president who actually gave a shit about America? This will play out and things will get better for the little guy. Sick to death of people deliberately misunderstanding and being angry that someone moved their cheese.
People like you who offer "help" like this is why I always travel with a full complement of survival gear and non-perishables.
And now you're all the way down there in contentless condescension.
You ask for info, another commenter provides info, and you scoff at it.
You are what I like to call "defiantly ignorant."
I'm not a Trumpie, but I can explain. Tariffs make foreign goods more expensive. If there are local industries, then this enables them to raise their prices. It also enables local firms to raise prices for local labour. So far, so New Deal. But tariffs create opportunities for local industry to start up, employ local workers. So, tariffs will put up prices. Probably. But will likely employ more local labour AND drive up wage rates. Again, very New Deal. Who will pay the higher prices? Certainly the elite. They'll pay more for their Ferrari's, expensive jewellery, perfume, labour to mow their lawns, service their pools, serve their margaritas. The rest? The working class will probably net benefit, and psychologically from having better paid jobs. Middle class? Possibly a wash, but dunno, really. Elite? Worse off. That's really why they're squealing so much.
No one can explain what a tariff is? No one can explain the trade deficit? No one can explain what exactly? https://apnews.com/article/jobs-economy-unemployment-inflation-federal-reserve-trump-d43b08bda57cb5d90b5bac1f092e1f3d
What do you mean "no one." And you have the audacity to quote the hapless AP?
Ya, well, it ain't Newsmax but what are you going to do...
Well, for heavens sake don’t rely on the main stream media for the education on tariffs. They’ll offer an education on fear only. This country has a deep history on tariffs.