Central beliefs of MAGAnomics: • If people get money (wages, whatever) they just eat it directly. They don’t pass it on to someone else, who then passes it on to someone else, etc…; • There are no gains from trade, individually or between countries; • If the government spends money, it’s just fake somehow. All […]
From the Financial Times (paywalled) via Eschaton: “Hedge funds have been hit with the biggest margin calls since Covid shut down huge parts of the global economy in 2020, after Donald Trump’s tariffs triggered a rout in global financial markets. “Wall Street banks have asked their hedge fund clients to stump up more money as […]
The tariffs were always about extortion, soliciting bribes. They were never about helping the economy, balancing the budget, trade deficits or reducing taxes. “After multiple White House aides insisted that the new tariffs were not a negotiation, Trump said he would be open to negotiating with other countries about the duties. “Trump said he would […]
I keep reading about how Tesla is in trouble. Well, yes, in the sense that its business model is a fail. But Tesla stock price has been defying gravity. Why? Probably because Musk, who is richer than God, can keep Tesla’s stock price afloat. How? Well as the commissar of DOGE, he’s managed to get […]
Trump called fallen American soldiers “suckers” and “losers.” Presumably because they didn’t find a podiatrist who could claim they had “bone spurs.” Now the Trump Administration is punishing living veterans for their service. In the latest episode: “The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs said Thursday that it will end a mortgage-rescue program designed to help […]
For Trump, the suffering is a feature, not a bug. Here’s Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) to explain: “Those trying to understand the tariffs as economic policy are dangerously naive. No, the tariffs are a tool to collapse our democracy. A means to compel loyalty from every business that will need to petition Trump for relief. […]
“The United States led the world in developing the technology that beat the COVID-19 pandemic. Action from lawmakers may leave that legacy—and a $70 billion market—behind.” Abandoning mRNA vaccines is bad science, bad medicine, bad public health and bad business. This is just stupid. Which defines the Trump administration. Trump Administration attacks mRNA vaccines
“Newsmax raised $75 million in its IPO Friday, with shares priced at $10. Newsmax’s rapid ascent in its first two days of trading pushed the company’s market cap to $16.7 billion. Shares traded around $190 early Tuesday.” Sounds great, right? But scroll down a bit: “The company is facing an ongoing lawsuit from Dominion Voting […]
I recall a time when the GOP posed as the staunch defenders of America’s military, including military veterans. But Republicans have stopped saluting veterans and save their salutes for tax cuts. “The Veterans Affairs Department is planning to lay off tens of thousands of employees throughout its organization later this year, according to an internal […]
Duncan Black over at Eschaton posts: “One possibility I haven’t seen raised elsewhere is that Trump intends to announce massive tariffs lasting years, the Republicans will “book” this revenue when they do their budget bill, cut taxes on rich people accordingly, and then just erase (some of) the tariffs. “Some budget shenanigans are above my […]