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Polls show a majority of the American people are not buying it...which includes some Trump voters:
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Trump Tariffs work in less than three days!
- Thread starter Always in His Presence
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Polls show a majority of the American people are not buying it...which includes some Trump voters:
eclipsenow
Scripture is God's word, Science is God's works
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Yes - it seems to be a weird picture.
The main thing to keep in mind is that the impact has not been felt yet because the tariffs are not really running yet!
As Wall Street says - it's TACO trading - Trump Always Chickens Out.
Now - while I don't take American public polls as any reflection on the reality - because half of Americans seem to watch Fox News - it is interesting to note that even amongst this population (where 15% might be QANON believers!) that:-
VOTERS NOW SEE THE ECONOMY SOLIDLY IN TRUMP’S HANDS
It's all a bit nauseating. Biden had to deal with the legacy of Trump's awful mishandling of Covid - in the way he cut various FEMA and pandemic departments just in time to mess up America when Covid landed. Biden's watch also involved the GLOBAL energy crisis - which was a complicated perfect storm of events involving Russia's war with Ukraine, a backlog of energy supply issues due to Covid, and even drought in Brazil reducing their hydro power so that their demand for gas went up! And 20 other factors as well!
And the American people just blame all these MASSIVE international events impacting the American economy on Biden? I'm sorry - but Biden just does not have that kind of power!
Also - Bidenomics was working! Rather than threatening the world with a big tariff stick to get dubious returns in 'deals' that are largely untested waffle, Biden just created the most substantial industrial stimulus policy in generations. (With the most boring name - the "Inflation Reduction Act.") It was working! Factories were popping up, battery and other clean tech was blossoming, it had a doubling curve, and America was going to have all sorts of new home-grown industries.
Then Trump got in and started attacking NATO, humiliating democratic friends in Europe, attacking this, attacking that... all bluster and mayhem like he thinks he's on his Reality TV show.
And Americans think Trump is doing a good job? That global inflationary trends were Biden's fault, but Trump has cleaned all that up?
That's just delusional!
The main thing to keep in mind is that the impact has not been felt yet because the tariffs are not really running yet!
As Wall Street says - it's TACO trading - Trump Always Chickens Out.
Now - while I don't take American public polls as any reflection on the reality - because half of Americans seem to watch Fox News - it is interesting to note that even amongst this population (where 15% might be QANON believers!) that:-
VOTERS NOW SEE THE ECONOMY SOLIDLY IN TRUMP’S HANDS
- 62% of voters say Trump is mostly responsible for the state of the economy today (+7), including a majority across political parties.
- 53% of voters trust the Trump administration and Republicans more than Democrats in Congress to manage the economy (+3).
- 56% of voters say Trump is losing the battle against inflation and that his tariffs are harming the economy.
- 56% of voters say the U.S. is not in a recession, though 59% of Democrats say we are in a recession.
- 46% of voters, a plurality, say recent economic news is mostly negative, though more voters say they’ve seen mostly positive news stories in the last few weeks (31%; +7 pts., June 2025).
Press Release: July 2025 – Harvard CAPS / Harris Poll
harvardharrispoll.com
It's all a bit nauseating. Biden had to deal with the legacy of Trump's awful mishandling of Covid - in the way he cut various FEMA and pandemic departments just in time to mess up America when Covid landed. Biden's watch also involved the GLOBAL energy crisis - which was a complicated perfect storm of events involving Russia's war with Ukraine, a backlog of energy supply issues due to Covid, and even drought in Brazil reducing their hydro power so that their demand for gas went up! And 20 other factors as well!
And the American people just blame all these MASSIVE international events impacting the American economy on Biden? I'm sorry - but Biden just does not have that kind of power!
Also - Bidenomics was working! Rather than threatening the world with a big tariff stick to get dubious returns in 'deals' that are largely untested waffle, Biden just created the most substantial industrial stimulus policy in generations. (With the most boring name - the "Inflation Reduction Act.") It was working! Factories were popping up, battery and other clean tech was blossoming, it had a doubling curve, and America was going to have all sorts of new home-grown industries.
Then Trump got in and started attacking NATO, humiliating democratic friends in Europe, attacking this, attacking that... all bluster and mayhem like he thinks he's on his Reality TV show.
And Americans think Trump is doing a good job? That global inflationary trends were Biden's fault, but Trump has cleaned all that up?
That's just delusional!
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you know why the doomsday hasn't really happened? One word, Taco. trump has a knack for bringing the US to the brink of ruin then pretending to be magnaamous and reversing things. He kept the tariffs on Japan till about the point where by the time new stuff came in if he removed them there wouldn't be enough stock. No one buys his tariffs, heck people buy against them to make a fortune
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I don't think you know how negotiations work, why would anyone negotiate with trump when the second things turn bad he bails. Only thing trumps tariffs have done to Canada is made us much stronger as were looking to do the stuff we used to with the states elsewhere, or in house. You haven't hurt us, or made us negotiate, you just made us much stronger, I'm happy about todays tarifs, as they will A) not last and B) continue to help us,
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Say it aint so
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Yes, GDP is up as businesses bought ahead to beat Aug 1st Trump tariff taxes.
The job numbers are down with a weak July report and the previous months revised downward.
The Consumer Price Index is up.
Unemployment is up.
Inflation ticked up.
Tourism is taking a beating.
Just as those economists predicted.
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Apparently a LOT of countries have negotiated with us. And we have already collected billions. So you guys go ahead and be stronger. Good for you.
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....yeah, most of those deals have been shown to be fake, or overblown, like trumps claim europe will spend more money then they make, or the recent deal with japan. what actual deals have been done and not just announced, or claimed? yeah, you collected billions while otehrs pay more good job.
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eclipsenow
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Apparently?
Nope. There are about 7.
And the tariffs have not kicked in yet because TACO
When they do, then we'll be able to check the damage. The tariffs that have been negotiated are not as high as feared - which is mediocre news.
It means inflation for Americans - but hardly high enough to stimulate bringing jobs home to America.
Biden's IRA was all carrot no stick - and it was brilliant at stimulating domestic manufacturing of green tech.
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Yes tariffs have kicked in. We've collected billions.
Maybe it will be horrible. Maybe it will be the end of our economy. Maybe the the US will crash and burn.
Im willing to wait and see if these deals make any difference in the long run or they cause harm. The fact is, I don't know. These are all deals struck by countries. A lot of them. Maybe in the long run they will be good.
Or maybe it will turn out to be a disaster. If tgat happens Trump will be forever known as the destroyer of the conservative movement. The left will win and we will get the socialist utopia they've always wanted.
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eclipsenow
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One month - but what happens long term as the market adjusts, and people start buying from elsewhere?
Adam Smith wrote AGAINST tariffs in the "Wealth of Nations."
If it's a bet between Donald Trump and Adam Smith - I'm going with Smith - as are most economists!
Like Australia being a decade behind, stuck with black and white TV when the rest of the world had moved to colour.
All because we put tariffs on electronics to try and protect a dying industry at home.
Our tax on our own people buying cheaper overseas TV's was based on a complete myth:
As IF Australia had the cheap labour, cheap dollar, and economies of scale of the Asian manufacturing giants!
We were never going to compete - and we missed out on what everyone else was enjoying for an extra 10 years!
Why is Trump so convinced? Well - he's Trump. I don't know that he's read a book in his adult life.
But he also has Howard Lutnick whispering in his ear - and Lutnick makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck!
End? That's a bit apocalyptic. Harm? Slow? Send into recession? Maybe that.
I certainly hope not - as that's another scenario to what we're actually discussing!
I'm willing to side with Adam Smith and the majority of the world's economists, right now!
There's the economics of it.
There's the geopolitics of it.
If you are not sure about the loyalty of someone you're trading with (like China) - then friend-shore - like Biden was!
But don't alienate all your friends with huge tariffs! And don't threaten NATO! (Trump has weakened the previous image of invincible unity of the western world. Russia is laughing at what Trump has been doing, and rubbing their hands together with glee!)
I'm no economist - but I'm adult enough to recognise when I'm not an expert in something - it's probably good enough wisdom to listen to the VAST majority of experts!
7 of them.
Only 7.
Look up the facts.
They might be survivable - but good?
Tariffs increase inflation and reduce trade.
Trade means you do what you do cheapest and best, and I do my thing - and we trade - and BOTH get richer.
Tariffs are something you only slap on an industry that is essential for national security - IF you don't trust the other guys!
If by disaster you mean slower economic growth, reduced wages, slowing economic activity, growing inflation, potentially rising unemployment.... then yes. Disaster. End of America? Not so much. But bashed up economy? Yeah, probably.
IF Trump doesn't just TACO again!
According to The Lincoln Project and Never Trumpers and many other Republicans that are voting Democrat until MAGA dies - he already has.
And on the world stage? I can tell you the Australian political experts I'm reading have never seen Australia so utterly disgusted with an American President.
No utopia - but if you nationalised just over half your healthcare to be government owned and operated, you might bring your healthcare costs down to the OECD average AND save $1 to $1.5 TRILLION a year WHILE offering universal healthcare coverage just for being an American citizen! How does that sound? That's the Australian model.
And that's not even socialism - just Ordo-Liberalism. There's about 12 MAJOR settings on the dial between a totally anarchic 'free market' and true, formal Communism. But many Americans are just not aware of what happens in other countries.
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Are these the same economists that said our economy would be in the tank by now? We were hearing a lot of that earlier this year. You see the "experts" predicted it and were wrong.
Oh they were using Trumps 100%+ tariffs I hear explained. Well, now that we aren't their predictions havent changed.
I know what you and others have claimed about TACO. But he actually hasnt. What he's done is what he has ALWAYS intended to do. Negotiate. And as long as countries are showing signs he's willing to work with them.
Yeah leftists are disgusted with him and have been since 2016. No surprise there.
There are more than 7 countries that have agreed to trade agreements including tariffs. Look it up.
I'm not willing to side with anyone right now. Because Economists do not know what's going to happen because it hasn't been settled yet. They've already failed in their prognostications because things changed. I'm not willing to side with Trump either because there are too many unknowns.
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eclipsenow
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Do you have a source for that?
We would need to see what these same economists have said recently.
And as long as they flatter his ego - and don't threaten him.
Like Brazil - daring to enact the rule of law against another President that attempted to steal an election for the right.
When exactly did the Congress hand over authority to the President to use tariffs however he wished, especially to punish other nations that the President had personal opprobrium with?
Colour me leftist and continually disgusted.
Colour most of the world that way as well.
Colour post-WW2 allies mostly that way as well.
No - you look it up - I have linked to the 7.
I could be wrong, but you appear to be avoiding clear thinking about basic economic theory to do with tariffs by throwing in the smoke-screen of "I don't know what the SPECIFIC DETAILS of every tariff will be!"
The specifics are not necessary. The general rule was established centuries ago by Adam Smith, and is still relevant today. Where would you disagree with the following?
Adam Smith opposed tariffs
Adam Smith opposed tariffs. He believed that free trade was the most powerful driver of economic growth. He believed that tariffs, particularly those intended to protect domestic industries, ultimately harm both the economy and consumers by limiting competition and increasing prices. Adam Smith opposed tariffs on the following five grounds:
1. Tariffs undermine free markets and natural liberty
Adam Smith believed that a free market was an extension of natural liberty. Specifically, he described free markets as “an obvious and simple system of natural liberty.” He did not favor the landowner, the factory owner, or the worker, but rather all of society. He was opposed to any and all self-defeating economic forces, especially those preventing the full operation of the free market and undermining the wealth of nations.
2. Tariffs inhibit consumer choice and raise consumer costs
By allowing foreign goods to enter the market, Adam Smith believed that consumers gain access to a wider variety of goods at lower prices, leading to an elevated degree of consumer welfare and wellbeing. Tariffs reduce both consumer advantages.
3. Tariffs undermine a competitive environment
Free trade, Adam Smith believed, also creates a competitive environment that incentivizes businesses to innovate and improve efficiency, further driving economic growth. Tariffs have the opposite effect.
4. Tariffs distort prices
Adam Smith argued that tariffs distort market prices, stifle innovation, and reduce the productivity of an economy, ultimately leading to lower overall prosperity.
5. Tariffs, retaliation and trade wars
Adam Smith recognized that retaliatory tariffs could sometimes force other countries to lower their own tariffs but also warned that such actions could easily escalate into trade wars, harming everyone.
Specifically on this issue – and I make no apologies for quoting his thoughts in full – Adam Smith stated:
“There may be good policy in retaliations of this kind, when there is a probability that they will procure the repeal of the high duties or prohibitions complained of. The recovery of a great foreign market will generally more than compensate the transitory inconveniency of paying dearer during a short time for some sorts of goods. To judge whether such retaliations are likely to produce such an effect, does not, perhaps, belong so much to the science of a legislator, whose deliberations ought to be governed by general principles which are always the same, as to the skill of that insidious and crafty animal, vulgarly called a statesman or politician, whose councils are directed by the momentary fluctuations of affairs. When there is no probability that any such repeal can be procured, it seems a bad method of compensating the injury done to certain classes of our people, to do another injury ourselves, not only to those classes, but to almost all the other classes of them.”
Conclusion
In my view, the fundamental function of the United States economy until recently and for most of its history exemplifies the application – perhaps compared to any other country in the world – of the teachings of Adam Smith. That is, in all likelihood, the reason for its astonishing economic success.
We all need to remember that, beyond anything, Adam Smith was a philosopher and acute student of human nature.
He recognized that, to a greater or lesser extent, we are all motivated by self-interest. Personally. Professionally. Financially.
Let’s assume that tariff supporters are motivated by the best intentions. But ultimately, intentions don’t matter – especially if they can lead to seriously stalled growth, and even that might be an understatement.
According to recent commentary from Blackrock – the U.S. based investment management company – “We expect tariffs to lower growth and boost inflation globally. Our Fundamental Fixed Income team, for example, has lowered its 2025 GDP growth expectation to 0% and raised its core inflation expectation to 3.8%.”
There was a recent discussion between CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Bridgwater Associates founder Ray Dalio, and the Editor-in-Chief of The Economist, Zanny Minton Beddoes.
During that discussion Ms. Minton Beddoes referred to recent tariff policies as a huge “self-inflicted wound” on the U.S. economy.
Based on the evidence of Adam Smith’s stated views on tariffs, expressed 300 years ago and still widely admired and emulated today, it’s hard to disagree with that judgment.
What would Adam Smith say about tariffs?
Adam Smith (1723 – 1790) is widely considered to be the father of modern economics. His thinking played a pivotal role in popularizing the concept of supply and demand. His published work, particularly The Wealth of Nations – available online – introduced the idea of the "invisible hand". This...
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