Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

GOP budget flummery

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 […]

Unintended consequences

I get that Trump is too stupid to understand that his tariffs (a) will be paid by American consumers, (b) will drive inflation and (c) will prevent future Fed rate cuts. But there are other negative consequences: “While Wall Street frets about potential volatility from President Trump’s April 2 “Liberation Day” plans, another part of […]

Potential Tariff Reaction by European Union

Plastics Targeted by Retaliatory EU Tariffs Sixty US plastics resin and product exports to the EU could be hit as a countermeasure to US tariffs on steel and aluminum. Sixty plastic products exported by the US could be hit with retaliatory tariffs by the European Union (EU), analysis by the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS) reveals. […]

The latest Republican assault on higher education

Earlier, it was a dramatic cut in indirect costs on all federal grants and outright cancellation of some grants. Now, congressional Republicans are mulling a steep tax on university endowments. “Republicans are considering increases to the university endowment tax to help reduce the national deficit and as a potential lever to force universities to comply […]

Tariff is a beautiful word

Trump says “tariff” is a beautiful word. Maybe for him, but not for American companies and consumers. “Walmart thought it could use its immense power as America’s biggest retailer to make Chinese suppliers eat the cost of President Donald Trump’s tariffs. But Walmart got a response it’s not accustomed to hearing: No. “Trump has slapped […]

Are we efficient yet?

Looks like DOGE is proving quite efficient at destroying government revenue sources. From Josh Marshall over at TPM: “The Post reports today that the IRS’s internal projections estimate that the DOGE-driven disruptions to the IRS since the inauguration are on track to have reduced tax receipts by more than $500 billion by April 15th. This, […]

Trump, Tariffs, and Prices

Eight days ago, Trump announced a 25% tariff on specific Canadian goods. The he walks back the tariffs. Now there are tariffs on Maple syrup. Then the 25% tariff becomes a 50% tariff. It is starting to get a little bit strange with Trump or is trying to sow confusion. Then say Canada backed off […]

Trump tariffs: shrinking our way to irrelevance?

In addition to driving down the stock market and driving up inflation, Trump tariffs will drive historical trading partners to shop with China and others outside the US. “While ASEAN and the GCC are unlikely to embrace Beijing to the extent that the Chinese government would like, they will be more receptive to Chinese overtures […]

Delivering for America Plan (DFA) has wasted that help, losing more money for the Postal Service

The last thing or person the USPS needed was Louis DeJoy who lacked in knowledge of how the Post Service works. He then took it upon himself to implement change(s) before learning about the USPS systems and its people. We did not do such in manufacturing facilities. Lacking the knowledge of how the USPS works […]

Defunding the US Department of Education

“The federal government provides roughly 14% of funding for public K-12 education, with states and local governments contributing the majority. This federal funding can vary significantly from state to state.” Federal public education funding is equivalent to 0.51% of total taxpayer income. Yikes, that is alot! The Department of Education has a budget of ~$104 billion. […]