O/T:- Trump Presidency 2.0 [hic sunt dracones]

[SwalePie]

Ah, apparently they could be subject to new tariffs in the future. More uncertainty.

Gosh what a surprise eh? v2.0

[drillerpie]

Gosh what a surprise eh? v2.0

Got to keep those cliffhangers coming. Great television!

[i961pie]

Doesn't look like China is backing down 125% tariffs. Phones and ipads are going to be a bit expensive in the states. Trump seems to be softening his approach praising Xi saying he's an intelligent guy and a deal can be reached. China is far more used to pain and austerity than the people of America. Who blinks first?

I guess Trump blinked first.

[Jampie]

If it wasn't trashing investment in the US this would be comical. Is he just going to keep excluding stuff when people bring it to him and say "uhhh this thing doubling in price is going to kill the economy".

Like they're all just discovering this now? I'm willing to believe it.

Edit: What will it be next week? Bump the rate up to 300% but exclude everything the US economy actually needs? What an absolute clown show.

[Elite_Pie]

What will it be next week? Bump the rate up to 300% but exclude everything the US economy actually needs?

No, next week will see all tariffs lifted on orange coloured fake tan.

[i961pie]

I read where Canada and the EU and China have been buying American bonds and are using the threat of selling them off quickly which will weaken the dollar? Good tactic if it’s true.

[Jampie]

The bond market did begin to look distinctly unwell right before Trump "paused" the big tariffs for "90 days" (until he changes his mind again, presumably). But there isn't published info right now on who was doing the selling so it's speculation.

What we did see was a selloff in stocks, and bonds, and the US dollar at the same time. Normally those never happen at once. If stocks are scary people flee to bonds or cash. If they don't want any of it then it means the money is literally fleeing the USA. It's hard not to see that as a sign that whoever's in charge of the US is screwing up.

Unless you're a trump supporter, in which case nothing to see here and/or it's Biden's fault! Or wokeness. Or trans communists, or brown people or whatever.

[andy6025]

This interview with Yanis Varoufakis, the former finance minister of Greece, is well worth the watch. He explains Trumps tariffs and other important aspects of the world political economy in plain language for those are not political economists.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax7TtJrEcKQ

[i961pie]

Trump again accused Zelensky of starting the war. When Russia invaded Crimea Zelensky wasn't the president. The blokes a numpty and a liar, among numerous other things.

[LaxtonLad]

The man who thought drinking bleach could cure COVID will take advice from no-one. Every legal business he had has failed. The man who stood in front of a church waving a bible he held upside down yet could not name a single verse from it is virtually worshipped by the Republic voters - gullible sheep or just adult children happy in their ignorance? His own party hierarchy are noticibly quiet while he performs his bewildering manoeuvres with his "tariffs", a word he must have heard somewhere as he famously reads very little.

I have very little sympathy for the American public who have lost (or thrown away) the ability to think critically or contemplate the future beyond what the next Fox News babe might be wearing.

The next "Great Depression" might be looming over the horizon but who cares? A repeat of "Happy Days" might be on another channel, let's watch that instead.