An electronic display shows financial information on the floor at the New York Stock Exchange in New York, Monday, April 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
It’s all self-inflicted. The market didn’t need to plummet, and our allies didn’t have to be put in a position where they don’t trust us, or even like us. It’s because of the tariffs. It’s because Donald Trump had to prove he was the biggest one in the playground.
He isn’t though, and that’s the problem. Like any bully when all the other kids circle up around him, he starts looking foolish when the bell rings. Only this time, it wasn’t a school bell, but rather the start of the exchange.
So there has to be a reason he’d do this. Everyone knows he surrounds himself with idiots that aren’t intelligent enough to give him sound advice. The type of advice that wouldn’t have caused a 50/50 chance at a recession.
I’ve asked a number of times what Trump’s goal is. What is his end game? I’ve had three different reasons come at me. Some say it’s to turn America into a country that manufactures every thing the world could need. Some say it’s to raise the money we need to lower our national debt. And others think this could be Trump’s way of causing a market correction.
Let’s take them one at a time.
- America will never go back to manufacturing the products Trump has been describing. Other nations won’t be able to afford it, and Americans won’t work for the low wages needed to make it feasible. And if we make those products, the people won’t be able to afford the products we’d produce.
- If it’s about raising the money through tariffs to lower our national debt, it won’t work. Trump is already pledging some of the money raised to the ag and auto industries. And never forget that tariffs are paid by the American consumer. Which means, they’re paid by you.
- Now for the point Trump supporters are making in efforts to reset the economy. I would ask them what it needed to be reset from. It had bounced back from the COVID pandemic, inflation was going down, and interest rates were falling. America was creating a record number of jobs while the economy was working.
But there could be some positives for the American consumer. We’re an exporter of oil. If the world ends up not wanting to do business with us, we should have an excess amount of oil. So maybe Trump will actually get gas below $2 a gallon.
And hell, we haven’t even talked about eggs yet.
Good riding with you,
Joel
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