7 ms·

Even aside from the advisability of the tariffs -- it turns out there might be a reason that tarrifs haven't usually been imposed with like weeks notice, after

Even aside from the advisability of the tariffs -- it turns out there might be a reason that tarrifs haven't usually been imposed with like weeks notice, after months of back and forth, with no real advance implementation planning on the government's part and not enough time or reliable info for anyone else to do so either? It is very strange to me that the government seems to be going for maximum shock and uncertainty on the US economy. Again, apart from the advisability of the actual tarrifs, they could have been implemented in the usual way to allow people to plan for them (and possibly give feedback on them), but they were not.

ModernMech 1y ago
> It is very strange to me that the government seems to be going for maximum shock and uncertainty on the US economy. Again, apart from the advisability of the actual tarrifs, they could have been implemented in the usual way to allow people to plan for them (and possibly give feedback on them), but they were not. It's only strange to you because you don't understand the purpose of government anymore. It's changed -- before, the government was supposed to protect and provide for the citizenry. Provide military defense, manage the economy for everyone's economic benefit, and part of that work was maintaining global order and stability. That's not its purpose anymore. Now, the purpose of the government is to provide for Trump's security, to provide for Trump's stability, and to maintain a global order where his will rises above all others. To that end, economic instability is a feature, not a bug. Trump loves it when the world is off kilter, because they perceive that in order to achieve stability, they must assuage him personally with gifts, bribes, and praise. Witness the Qatari jet bribe, Tim Cook's oval office visit where he gave a bribe, and the cabinet meeting yesterday which was 4 hours of everyone praising Trump rather than talking about the business of the country. America is now a dictatorship, Trump is the dictator, and the country/economy will only be as stable as his ego allows. Which, after watching the guy for 10 years, means nothing will be stable again until he's gone for good.
sumeno 1y ago
If your goal was to see the US recede as the global economic leader you couldn't create a better playbook than the one being done by this administration.
- arghwhat 1y ago
  Shock and uncertainty causes large dips in the stock market. As as long as the economy isn't completely toast by the time you backpedal completely, it'll recover somewhat. Just imagine the money you could make if you could induce such events on demand, with only you and your friends all being prepared for it! Just a thought. Purely hypothetical. No one would do that. Surely.
  - rchaud 1y ago
    Stocks going down you say? Not to worry, Uncle Sam will graciously buy your shares on the open market to keep them from dropping further.
    - overfeed 1y ago
      How long before treasury directly starts buying private shares in companies owned by the politically connected? This unsophisticated, banana republic grifting that Americans used to deride 3rd-world countries for.
    - pjc50 1y ago
      Or the Intel setup, where the government simply bullies its way into an equity stake by reclassifying already agreed grant payments.
      - Tadpole9181 1y ago
        Grants that Intel was denied because they hadn't made milestones yet! We gave them already proportioned money they failed to earn!
  - janice1999 1y ago
    For the unaware: "Trump brags in Oval Office that his billionaire pals made a killing in stocks after he pulled the plug on tariffs" https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-billionaire-profits-dropped-tariffs-b2731386.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politic...
duxup 1y ago
The government is really just one guy right now, Trump. According to his own people he doesn't take no for an answer and isn't interested in input from anyone else. He has surrounded himself with opportunists and yes men. His own department heads often will do press conferences and inadvertently contradict Trump, seemingly without realizing it. At one point Trump and his staff couldn't get on the same page about IF they were or were not talking to China about tariffs, they waffled for several days on it. A few Trump staffers whenever asked about strategy with tariffs or other things just ignore the question an start praising Trump out of the blue. It's a creepy scene. I've yet to see anyone with an education or domain knowledge explain the existing tariffs strategy / where this should lead with these whipsaw type decisions. There simply is nobody with a clue willing to do that. At least in Idocracy President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho chose to listen to someone smarter than him. This is very much not the choice of the current President.
- K0balt 1y ago
  The actual point is to create barriers to trade so that companies will seek exceptions (buy his shitcoin, donate money, or prove fealty). It’s a power/money grab, nothing more, nothing less. Trump has one ideology - trump first.
- pjc50 1y ago
  > government is really just one guy right now, Trump. Americans call this "separation of powers" for some quaint reason. In practice all three branches of government do what he says in executive orders.
  - duxup 1y ago
    Congress is his people and just sycophants, but the real tragedy as far as separation of powers goes is that the SCOTUS majority has chosen to ignore their job and put their hands in their pockets. Anytime a judge does something that might result in a confrontation SCOTUS sets it aside while the legal process continues ... this a farce as in the meantime people are fired, tax payer data is handled poorly, budgets are cut and everything falls apart. Effectively the law is ignored and the damage is allowed to happen regardless of the court outcome. It won't matter by the end of it all. It's the same as SCOTUS rubber stamp approving all of it... IMO they've disqualified themselves for that job by simply refusing to do it.
UltraSane 1y ago
Trump is a moron who wrecks everything he touches.
trinsic2 1y ago
IMHO I think the trump admin. is part of an accelerationism agenda to destabilize the U.S as much as possible. Not sure what the end game is though..
thephotonsphere 1y ago
So it begins... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYSYAHDKtvM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYSYAHDKtvM
poulpy123 1y ago
Tariffs are not bad for themselves but the way this administration implemented them is absolutely crazy

ModernMech 1y ago

> It is very strange to me that the government seems to be going for maximum shock and uncertainty on the US economy. Again, apart from the advisability of the actual tarrifs, they could have been implemented in the usual way to allow people to plan for them (and possibly give feedback on them), but they were not. It's only strange to you because you don't understand the purpose of government anymore. It's changed -- before, the government was supposed to protect and provide for the citizenry. Provide military defense, manage the economy for everyone's economic benefit, and part of that work was maintaining global order and stability. That's not its purpose anymore. Now, the purpose of the government is to provide for Trump's security, to provide for Trump's stability, and to maintain a global order where his will rises above all others. To that end, economic instability is a feature, not a bug. Trump loves it when the world is off kilter, because they perceive that in order to achieve stability, they must assuage him personally with gifts, bribes, and praise. Witness the Qatari jet bribe, Tim Cook's oval office visit where he gave a bribe, and the cabinet meeting yesterday which was 4 hours of everyone praising Trump rather than talking about the business of the country. America is now a dictatorship, Trump is the dictator, and the country/economy will only be as stable as his ego allows. Which, after watching the guy for 10 years, means nothing will be stable again until he's gone for good.

sumeno 1y ago

If your goal was to see the US recede as the global economic leader you couldn't create a better playbook than the one being done by this administration.

arghwhat 1y ago
Shock and uncertainty causes large dips in the stock market. As as long as the economy isn't completely toast by the time you backpedal completely, it'll recover somewhat. Just imagine the money you could make if you could induce such events on demand, with only you and your friends all being prepared for it! Just a thought. Purely hypothetical. No one would do that. Surely.
- rchaud 1y ago
  Stocks going down you say? Not to worry, Uncle Sam will graciously buy your shares on the open market to keep them from dropping further.
  - overfeed 1y ago
    How long before treasury directly starts buying private shares in companies owned by the politically connected? This unsophisticated, banana republic grifting that Americans used to deride 3rd-world countries for.
  - pjc50 1y ago
    Or the Intel setup, where the government simply bullies its way into an equity stake by reclassifying already agreed grant payments.
    - Tadpole9181 1y ago
      Grants that Intel was denied because they hadn't made milestones yet! We gave them already proportioned money they failed to earn!
- janice1999 1y ago
  For the unaware: "Trump brags in Oval Office that his billionaire pals made a killing in stocks after he pulled the plug on tariffs" https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-billionaire-profits-dropped-tariffs-b2731386.html https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politic...

duxup 1y ago

The government is really just one guy right now, Trump. According to his own people he doesn't take no for an answer and isn't interested in input from anyone else. He has surrounded himself with opportunists and yes men. His own department heads often will do press conferences and inadvertently contradict Trump, seemingly without realizing it. At one point Trump and his staff couldn't get on the same page about IF they were or were not talking to China about tariffs, they waffled for several days on it. A few Trump staffers whenever asked about strategy with tariffs or other things just ignore the question an start praising Trump out of the blue. It's a creepy scene. I've yet to see anyone with an education or domain knowledge explain the existing tariffs strategy / where this should lead with these whipsaw type decisions. There simply is nobody with a clue willing to do that. At least in Idocracy President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Camacho chose to listen to someone smarter than him. This is very much not the choice of the current President.

K0balt 1y ago
The actual point is to create barriers to trade so that companies will seek exceptions (buy his shitcoin, donate money, or prove fealty). It’s a power/money grab, nothing more, nothing less. Trump has one ideology - trump first.
pjc50 1y ago
> government is really just one guy right now, Trump. Americans call this "separation of powers" for some quaint reason. In practice all three branches of government do what he says in executive orders.
- duxup 1y ago
  Congress is his people and just sycophants, but the real tragedy as far as separation of powers goes is that the SCOTUS majority has chosen to ignore their job and put their hands in their pockets. Anytime a judge does something that might result in a confrontation SCOTUS sets it aside while the legal process continues ... this a farce as in the meantime people are fired, tax payer data is handled poorly, budgets are cut and everything falls apart. Effectively the law is ignored and the damage is allowed to happen regardless of the court outcome. It won't matter by the end of it all. It's the same as SCOTUS rubber stamp approving all of it... IMO they've disqualified themselves for that job by simply refusing to do it.

UltraSane 1y ago

Trump is a moron who wrecks everything he touches.

trinsic2 1y ago

IMHO I think the trump admin. is part of an accelerationism agenda to destabilize the U.S as much as possible. Not sure what the end game is though..

thephotonsphere 1y ago

So it begins... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYSYAHDKtvM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYSYAHDKtvM

poulpy123 1y ago

Tariffs are not bad for themselves but the way this administration implemented them is absolutely crazy