Funnily enough, I’m hopefully about to start a project with Polestar, who are positioned at the luxury electric end of things.
And with the way his mind changes at such a quick and unpredictable pattern, coupled with the fact his term expires in 2028, if you were going to invest in America would you really be pushing your chips in at this point? Factories and processing plants are not applied for, constructed, staffed and stocked overnight
It was interesting hearing him say “hopefully” in his speech last night. A very rare show of self-doubt.
You’re missing the salient point here Ian; Trump’s a ****ing idiot, he has no policy, no strategy, his numbers are made up, and protectionism turned the 1929 Wall Street Crash into a global depression.
The EU and the BBC are certainly shrieking and trying to scare people imo. Seen a lot of bollocks from MPs and journalists already. But ultimately; Trump has a valid point. Actually, I’ll rephrase that, all sides have valid points. Americas debt crisis means that they can either continue their global empire, or save the republic. There is no doubt that their global hegemony has harmed the American people. In a way its Main Street vs. Wall Street, and for the first time in living memory a president has chosen Main Street.
I disagree with this. You may not like his strategy, but he definitely has one. He could end up looking like a genius or a fool by the time all this is done.
Do read the Juliet Samuel piece though - Trump’s chaotic style obscures point of tariffs https://www.thetimes.com/article/7860109a-ea9b-4ecf-9880-cdbca28ba3ac?shareToken=ec94d7108336fb6d7c0465bdb01ed90b
My money is on fool. What I will concede though, is that the tectonic plates of the world’s economy are shifting. Postwar capitalism no longer serves the interests of working people, in the USA or Europe; something radical is needed, and Trump has recognised that much at least. I don’t think he has the answers, but we’ll see. He was voted in to shake things up, and he’s certainly doing that.
I’m of the opinion that the average American doesn’t understand how tariffs work. I think the majority of them (speculation) think that the tariffs are paid by the exporters and not by the importers. All of a sudden they are going to see the retail price of goods rise, to cover the cost of the tariffs being imposed by Trump. At some point, I would hope, they will collectively have a lightbulb moment and realise that the rise in their cost of living has been caused by Trump’s tariffs. And if an imported product cannot be created within the States, or an alternative product of the same quality offered as a substitute for a preferred product, at a cheaper price, then the whole concept of tariffs becomes pointless, imo. I wouldn’t be surprised if Trump started looking to build and fill more prisons because, I believe, under their penal code slave labour is acceptable. He might even consider stopping deportations and just use his targets to work for nothing.
Postwar capitalism has primarily benefited postwar capitalists, as the rising number of billionaires would suggest. In contrast to the rise in total wealth, the percentage of the world’s children in poverty has remained relatively constant.
And it’s exactly this kind of insulting rhetoric that led to a huge groundswell of support for American isolationism They are asking “why do we continue to help fund the EU, when they hate us?” Most of the cutting edge engineering and manufacturing relies on American companies btw. It’s the largest economy in the world. I think there’s probably a good chance the majority of Americans understand what tariffs are ffs
I think there's a distinction to be made between not understanding what tariffs are and not understanding how tariffs work, which is San Tejon's point. A lot of Americans will, as Os says, understand what tariffs are but a hell of a lot won't understand the intricacies of the reliefs and stresses they put on various industries and how that can and will impact areas of everyday life Which I don't even think is patronising, as I don't fully understand it all myself!
I also wonder if it’s cynical ploy for the richest in the US to get richer. I mean the billionaires that are part his team. If the shares fall steeply in value the very rich can sit it out and then buy shares when they are low
Yeah if there's a masterplan, it's most likely to be that something like that; they're all shorting the stock market.
They also have one of the highest % of university educated people per capita, most of the worlds most innovative companies and attract top talent from all over the globe.
Yeah, in the blue states, not in Trump country, they have the lowest. They also have the highest infant mortality rate in the US, which is amongst the highest in the western world, which will only get worse now that he's destroyed medicaid.
As I think Loading posted earlier the tariff calculations weren't as complex as the formula the white house issued and missed out several factors that led to distorted figures particularly damaging to fragile emerging economies already hit by cuts to USAID. Areas where China and Russia have increasing influence. Below from BBC Verify a worthwhile read. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c93gq72n7y1o
The rhetoric from Trump’s cabinet that Yale is a terrible, racist, unreliable University probably won’t help that continue. They are losing top professors to Canada and China quite quickly.
