At least on of Trump's Advisors Understand How Crazy The Tariff Policy Is

[mark46]

Three days ago, Musk proposed ZERO tariffs between the US and the EU (a trade free zone).

Musk has called out Novarro (the author of Trump's tariff policy) for the craziness of the tariffs, especially those on trade deficit.
==================
The billionaires know how crazy this is. Maybe Trump will listen to one of them. He aleady has stepped back many times.
A couple of day ago, he said that there would be no negotiations. This morning said that there would be no delay. We'll see.
=========
Of course, prices will go up even if the tariffs are only on autos, aluminum, steel and China. And that is a long, long way back from where Trump is.

For example, reducing EU tariffs to zero would help, but would just be a drop in the bucket of increases.

Even if folks got what they "want", an elimination of the taxes on individual countries except China, the above listed tariffs plus the 10% accrosse the board tariffs would still likely to cause a recession; prices would certainly go up considerably.
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I HAVE A SERIOUS TRADE DEFICIT WITH MY GROCERY STORE
I buy lots from my grocery store, and the store buys nothing from me. THEY ARE RIPPING ME OFF!
The US buys lots from Vietnam and Vietnam buys little from us. VIETNAM IS RIPPING US OFF!

I have an MBA in Finance. I have studied some of these issues some over the past 60 years. This is worst policy I've ever seen.

Trump has always supported tariffs, but this idea is new. It really doesn't matter where Trump got this particular idea. However, it is all based on crackpot named Navarro who published books and articles on the trade deficit relying on the studies of the non-existent economist Vera, invented by Novarro.

I INVITE folks to direct us to books and articles by economists who support the idea of tariffs based on trade deficits.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Three days ago, Musk proposed ZERO tariffs between the US and the EU (a trade free zone).

Musk has called out Novarro (the author of Trump's tariff policy) for the craziness of the tariffs, especially those on trade deficit.
==================
The billionaires know how crazy this is. Maybe Trump will listen to one of them. He aleady has stepped back many times.
A couple of day ago, he said that there would be no negotiations. This morning said that there would be no delay. We'll see.
=========
Of course, prices will go up even if the tariffs are only on autos, aluminum, steel and China. And that is a long, long way back from where Trump is.

For example, reducing EU tariffs to zero would help, but would just be a drop in the bucket of increases.

Even if folks got what they "want", an elimination of the taxes on individual countries except China, the above listed tariffs plus the 10% accrosse the board tariffs would still likely to cause a recession; prices would certainly go up considerably.
=========================
I HAVE A SERIOUS TRADE DEFICIT WITH MY GROCERY STORE
I buy lots from my grocery store, and the store buys nothing from me. THEY ARE RIPPING ME OFF!
The US buys lots from Vietnam and Vietnam buys little from us. VIETNAM IS RIPPING US OFF!

I have an MBA in Finance. I have studied some of these issues some over the past 60 years. This is worst policy I've ever seen.

Trump has always supported tariffs, but this idea is new. It really doesn't matter where Trump got this particular idea. However, it is all based on crackpot named Navarro who published books and articles on the trade deficit relying on the studies of the non-existent economist Vera, invented by Novarro.

I INVITE folks to direct us to books and articles by economists who support the idea of tariffs based on trade deficits.

Ah, the thing about books is, you have to read them.

 

[Fantine]

We need the millionaires who will fund Republican campaigns to tell their beneficiaries, "Be independent. Be a real conservative, and be independent. Overturn Trump tariffs in Congress."

 

[Say it aint so]

The GOP congress are between a rock and hard place. They can sit and watch this all implode, chances of a recession increase, and the market tank even more. Or they can step up and defy Trump legislatively and face the wrath his supporters who would have no problem as Trump put it, "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters". That move is an instant primary. So far, they have chose the sit and watch it all tank approach.

 

[The Barbarian]

Ah, the thing about books is, you have to read them.

Trump doesn't read books.

 

[Belk]

Trump doesn't read books.

Trump doesn't read.

 

[mark46]

The GOP congress are between a rock and hard place. They can sit and watch this all implode, chances of a recession increase, and the market tank even more. Or they can step up and defy Trump legislatively and face the wrath his supporters who would have no problem as Trump put it, "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters". That move is an instant primary. So far, they have chose the sit and watch it all tank approach.

It doesn't take many to stop much of this nonsense. % house members and five senators would be plenty. After all, there are those who are retiring.

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Trump doesn't read.

Y Kant Tori Read?

 

[SimplyMe]

Three days ago, Musk proposed ZERO tariffs between the US and the EU (a trade free zone).

Musk has called out Novarro (the author of Trump's tariff policy) for the craziness of the tariffs, especially those on trade deficit.
==================
The billionaires know how crazy this is. Maybe Trump will listen to one of them. He aleady has stepped back many times.
A couple of day ago, he said that there would be no negotiations. This morning said that there would be no delay. We'll see.
=========
Of course, prices will go up even if the tariffs are only on autos, aluminum, steel and China. And that is a long, long way back from where Trump is.

For example, reducing EU tariffs to zero would help, but would just be a drop in the bucket of increases.

Even if folks got what they "want", an elimination of the taxes on individual countries except China, the above listed tariffs plus the 10% accrosse the board tariffs would still likely to cause a recession; prices would certainly go up considerably.
=========================
I HAVE A SERIOUS TRADE DEFICIT WITH MY GROCERY STORE
I buy lots from my grocery store, and the store buys nothing from me. THEY ARE RIPPING ME OFF!
The US buys lots from Vietnam and Vietnam buys little from us. VIETNAM IS RIPPING US OFF!

I have an MBA in Finance. I have studied some of these issues some over the past 60 years. This is worst policy I've ever seen.

Trump has always supported tariffs, but this idea is new. It really doesn't matter where Trump got this particular idea. However, it is all based on crackpot named Navarro who published books and articles on the trade deficit relying on the studies of the non-existent economist Vera, invented by Novarro.

I INVITE folks to direct us to books and articles by economists who support the idea of tariffs based on trade deficits.

Hey, I've got one, Ron Vara. Granted, he is a fake economist that Peter Navarro "invented" so he could quote an "economist" in his books (note that Ron Vara is an anagram of Navarro).

 

[Aryeh Jay]

Hey, I've got one, Ron Vara. Granted, he is a fake economist that Peter Navarro "invented" so he could quote an "economist" in his books (note that Ron Vara is an anagram of Navarro).

I'm sorry, John Baron has confirmed that Ron Vara is a real person.

 

[RocksInMyHead]

I'm sorry, John Baron has confirmed that Ron Vara is a real person.

Adrian Dittman is able to corroborate this information.

 

[Say it aint so]

It doesn't take many to stop much of this nonsense. % house members and five senators would be plenty. After all, there are those who are retiring.

Then there's this for them and their families to have to deal with:

"How death threats get Republicans to fall in line behind Trump"

Trump’s most fanatical followers have created a situation where challenging him carries not only political risks but also personal ones. Elected officials who dare defy the former president face serious threats to their well-being and to that of their families — raising the cost of taking an already difficult stand.​

As a result, the threat of violence is now a part of the American political system, to the point where Republican officials are — by their own admissions — changing the way they behave because they fear it. For Richer, the price back in 2021 was high — and enough to prevent him from safely participating in his own party’s politics.​

 

[The Barbarian]

I'm sorry, John Baron has confirmed that Ron Vara is a real person.

Link? Tell us about this guy.

 

[The Barbarian]

Ahh...​

White House Adviser Peter Navarro Calls Fictional Alter Ego An 'Inside Joke'​

While Vara is described in one of the books as a doctoral student at Harvard — as Navarro himself had been — the school had no record of him.

Eventually Greg Autry, who co-authored Death By China, acknowledged that Navarro made the character up.

"It's refreshing that somebody finally figured out an inside joke that has been hiding in plain sight for years," Navarro wrote in his email.

But former White House economist Glenn Hubbard, who co-authored another book featuring Vara, told Bartlett he wasn't in on the joke, and he wasn't amused.
...
The episode is not likely to cause Navarro any grief with his boss, however. Donald Trump famously invented his own fictional spokesman, John Barron, in the 1980s. Internet wags have joked that perhaps Barron could offer some PR advice to the newly unmasked Vara.

https://www.npr.org/2019/10/18/771396016/white-house-adviser-peter-navarro-calls-fictional-alter-ego-an-inside-joke

 

[Akita Suggagaki]

Robert Lighthizer seemed pretty reasonable on Firing Line​

Of course that was PBS.

Robert Lighthizer

Robert Lighthizer, who served as U.S. Trade Representative in Trump’s first term, defends the president’s tariffs and makes the case for more balanced trade. He discusses the impact of tariffs on prices and the future of American manufacturing.

www.pbs.org

 

[The Barbarian]

"How death threats get Republicans to fall in line behind Trump"

Trump’s most fanatical followers have created a situation where challenging him carries not only political risks but also personal ones. Elected officials who dare defy the former president face serious threats to their well-being and to that of their families — raising the cost of taking an already difficult stand.As a result, the threat of violence is now a part of the American political system, to the point where Republican officials are — by their own admissions — changing the way they behave because they fear it. For Richer, the price back in 2021 was high — and enough to prevent him from safely participating in his own party’s politics.

It's been like this for those guys from the start:

Then, as now, authoritarianism entails the transformation of rule of law into rule by the lawless, and authoritarian leaders routinely use pardons to free up criminals who can ply their valuable skills in the party and the government. In July 1925, Il Duce pardoned all political criminals, freeing the gangs of thugs known as “blackshirts” who had helped him get to power. He also fixed his legal problems by firing the magistrates who were overseeing the ongoing Matteotti investigation. Their replacements delivered the judgment of involuntary manslaughter, clearing Mussolini of direct responsibility for the crime and setting him up to rule without limitations on his power.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/08/03/assassination-attempts-mussolini-trump-00171825

The playbook hasn't changed. Judges who reject Trump's moves have their families threatened:

As federal judges rule against the Trump administration in dozens of politically charged cases, the families of at least 11 of the jurists have been targeted with threats and harassment.

https://www.reuters.com/investigations/these-judges-ruled-against-trump-then-their-families-came-under-attack-2025-05-02/

 

[Aryeh Jay]

It's been like this for those guys from the start:

Then, as now, authoritarianism entails the transformation of rule of law into rule by the lawless, and authoritarian leaders routinely use pardons to free up criminals who can ply their valuable skills in the party and the government. In July 1925, Il Duce pardoned all political criminals, freeing the gangs of thugs known as “blackshirts” who had helped him get to power. He also fixed his legal problems by firing the magistrates who were overseeing the ongoing Matteotti investigation. Their replacements delivered the judgment of involuntary manslaughter, clearing Mussolini of direct responsibility for the crime and setting him up to rule without limitations on his power.

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2024/08/03/assassination-attempts-mussolini-trump-00171825

The playbook hasn't changed. Judges who reject Trump's moves have their families threatened:

As federal judges rule against the Trump administration in dozens of politically charged cases, the families of at least 11 of the jurists have been targeted with threats and harassment.

https://www.reuters.com/investigations/these-judges-ruled-against-trump-then-their-families-came-under-attack-2025-05-02/

Remember when the Republicans were upset about judges being threatened during the Biden administration?

 

[The Barbarian]

Remember when the Republicans were upset about judges being threatened during the Biden administration?

Biden's Justice Department gave them protection, arresting the perps.
Threats to federal judges have risen every year since 2019

And now, Trump's people are perfectly happy with it. Why should we be surprised? As you see, this happened before in other countries.