4 ms·

Back paddling on the tariffs without any concessions is more damaging the tariffs themselves. It shows the leadership is uninformed and the economy is very weak

Back paddling on the tariffs without any concessions is more damaging the tariffs themselves. It shows the leadership is uninformed and the economy is very weak. Way to flash your weak hand in the first round.

tombert 2y ago
He's a pretty objectively terrible businessman. Like, that's the part that annoys me about him more than anything else, how he's convinced a lot of people that he's "good at business". He's not; if he had just dumped the money his father left him into basically any index fund between the 1970's until 2016, he would have made more money than he had in 2016. Any idiot can basically match the S&P500, just buy VOO or SPY or something, so I don't consider you a "good" businessman if you don't beat the S&P. So it doesn't surprise me that he is uninformed and doesn't know how to negotiate.
- lawn 2y ago
  He inherited billions and still manages to go bankrupt 6 times. The Apprentice was the OG reality distortion field and it's crazy people have trouble seeing through it all.
  - winrid 2y ago
    Did he personally go bankrupt 6 times or did smaller LLCs that own buildings or groups of real estate go bankrupt? Because I think the latter is par for the course if you do enough real estate. EDIT: Just fact checking this, it's the latter, 6 entities went bankrupt. It looks like the trump organization has 500 entities, so 1.2% bankruptcy rate.
    - tocs3 2y ago
      As far as I understand, he did not personally go bankrupt 6 times, but it is his pet projects that go bankrupt [1]. The accountants and money managers deal with any actual profitable businesses. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_and_business_legal_affairs_of_Donald_Trump#Use_of_bankruptcy_laws https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_and_business_legal_af...
- xnx 2y ago
  He doesn't realize he can't put he US in Chapter 11.
  - tombert 2y ago
    Yeah, apparently he's talked about "negotiating down the national debt"? [1] How the fuck would that even work? Would he just tell all the Americans holding treasury bills that they're only going to get half of their money back? I think that would completely erode any confidence in the US economy, both domestically and internationally. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/07/us/politics/donald-trumps-idea-to-cut-national-debt-get-creditors-to-accept-less.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/07/us/politics/donald-trumps...
    - relaxing 2y ago
      Yes, and it will work, because we’ve got the nukes.
      - tombert 2y ago
        Isn't the majority of US debt held by Americans by means of bonds and treasury bills? I think it's about 2/3 of the total US debt, if I'm reading that right. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_St... I would really hope that Trump doesn't start nuking the US.
        relaxing 2y ago
        No, it’s like 1/3 foreign, 1/3 domestic, 1/3 the Fed and other money moving between federal agencies. Presumably the latter would be a wash. Then of the domestic holdings, a big chunk is state and city holdings. Institutional investors would be mad. Citizens with saving bonds and/or money tied up in t-bills thanks to reddit are a tiny fraction.
        tombert 2y ago
- rufus_foreman 2y ago
  >> if he had just dumped the money his father left him into basically any index fund between the 1970's until 2016, he would have made more money than he had in 2016 Some investors actually spend money in addition to investing it. If you earn a high return on your investments every year and then go out and spend the returns on things like a $100 million private jet and a $25 million helicopter instead of reinvesting them, you don't beat the S&P. Does that mean you are a "bad" businessman? To me, to determine if someone is a good businessman, you need to look at what they took out and spent along with what they ended up with. Not every rich investor is someone like Charlie Munger, who weeks before his death at the age of 99 was upset that if he had worked harder, he "might have had multiple trillions instead of multiple billions". Some people make money to spend money.
HDThoreaun 2y ago
No, the tariffs wouldve been truly horrendous. Back pedaling is much better.

tombert 2y ago

He's a pretty objectively terrible businessman. Like, that's the part that annoys me about him more than anything else, how he's convinced a lot of people that he's "good at business". He's not; if he had just dumped the money his father left him into basically any index fund between the 1970's until 2016, he would have made more money than he had in 2016. Any idiot can basically match the S&P500, just buy VOO or SPY or something, so I don't consider you a "good" businessman if you don't beat the S&P. So it doesn't surprise me that he is uninformed and doesn't know how to negotiate.

lawn 2y ago
He inherited billions and still manages to go bankrupt 6 times. The Apprentice was the OG reality distortion field and it's crazy people have trouble seeing through it all.
- winrid 2y ago
  Did he personally go bankrupt 6 times or did smaller LLCs that own buildings or groups of real estate go bankrupt? Because I think the latter is par for the course if you do enough real estate. EDIT: Just fact checking this, it's the latter, 6 entities went bankrupt. It looks like the trump organization has 500 entities, so 1.2% bankruptcy rate.
  - tocs3 2y ago
    As far as I understand, he did not personally go bankrupt 6 times, but it is his pet projects that go bankrupt [1]. The accountants and money managers deal with any actual profitable businesses. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_and_business_legal_affairs_of_Donald_Trump#Use_of_bankruptcy_laws https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_and_business_legal_af...
xnx 2y ago
He doesn't realize he can't put he US in Chapter 11.
- tombert 2y ago
  Yeah, apparently he's talked about "negotiating down the national debt"? [1] How the fuck would that even work? Would he just tell all the Americans holding treasury bills that they're only going to get half of their money back? I think that would completely erode any confidence in the US economy, both domestically and internationally. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/07/us/politics/donald-trumps-idea-to-cut-national-debt-get-creditors-to-accept-less.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/07/us/politics/donald-trumps...
  - relaxing 2y ago
    Yes, and it will work, because we’ve got the nukes.
    - tombert 2y ago
      Isn't the majority of US debt held by Americans by means of bonds and treasury bills? I think it's about 2/3 of the total US debt, if I'm reading that right. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_of_the_United_St... I would really hope that Trump doesn't start nuking the US.
      - relaxing 2y ago
        No, it’s like 1/3 foreign, 1/3 domestic, 1/3 the Fed and other money moving between federal agencies. Presumably the latter would be a wash. Then of the domestic holdings, a big chunk is state and city holdings. Institutional investors would be mad. Citizens with saving bonds and/or money tied up in t-bills thanks to reddit are a tiny fraction.
        tombert 2y ago
rufus_foreman 2y ago
>> if he had just dumped the money his father left him into basically any index fund between the 1970's until 2016, he would have made more money than he had in 2016 Some investors actually spend money in addition to investing it. If you earn a high return on your investments every year and then go out and spend the returns on things like a $100 million private jet and a $25 million helicopter instead of reinvesting them, you don't beat the S&P. Does that mean you are a "bad" businessman? To me, to determine if someone is a good businessman, you need to look at what they took out and spent along with what they ended up with. Not every rich investor is someone like Charlie Munger, who weeks before his death at the age of 99 was upset that if he had worked harder, he "might have had multiple trillions instead of multiple billions". Some people make money to spend money.

HDThoreaun 2y ago

No, the tariffs wouldve been truly horrendous. Back pedaling is much better.