One good explanation is that Trump is using the tariffs to profit.
Step 1: Announce a massive tariff, causing the markets to plummet.
Step 2: With stock prices down, Trump and his minions scoop up cheap stocks.
Step 3: Announce a temporary roll-back of the tariffs, causing the markets to rally.
Step 4: Trump and his minions sell stocks and take their profits.
Step 5: Rinse, repeat.
An alternative explanation is that Trump has poor impulse control and has a deep-seated need for attention, so he throws out massive numbers for tariffs. Then, stocks plummet and bond yields rise, raising grave concerns about the financial stability of the U.S… Anyone in his administration with any inkling about economics panic, warn him of the potential for financial collapse and the end of his regime. Fearing for his own future, he then walks back the tariffs in an effort to attempt to mitigate the harm he has caused.
Honestly, I don’t know which it is, but what I do know is that this tariff merry-go-round is not sustainable, and eventually the U.S. will lose all credibility and the money pulsing through our markets will seek saner grounds elsewhere.
Trump is dead serious about the tariffs. He’s been dead serious about tariffs for pretty much his entire adult life. This obsession goes back decades. Yes, people are opportunisticly using the chaos to profit, but the chaos is not the plan, just a side effect of Trump’s total inability to plan.
One good explanation is that Trump is using the tariffs to profit.
Step 1: Announce a massive tariff, causing the markets to plummet.
Step 2: With stock prices down, Trump and his minions scoop up cheap stocks.
Step 3: Announce a temporary roll-back of the tariffs, causing the markets to rally.
Step 4: Trump and his minions sell stocks and take their profits.
Step 5: Rinse, repeat.
An alternative explanation is that Trump has poor impulse control and has a deep-seated need for attention, so he throws out massive numbers for tariffs. Then, stocks plummet and bond yields rise, raising grave concerns about the financial stability of the U.S… Anyone in his administration with any inkling about economics panic, warn him of the potential for financial collapse and the end of his regime. Fearing for his own future, he then walks back the tariffs in an effort to attempt to mitigate the harm he has caused.
Honestly, I don’t know which it is, but what I do know is that this tariff merry-go-round is not sustainable, and eventually the U.S. will lose all credibility and the money pulsing through our markets will seek saner grounds elsewhere.
Trump is dead serious about the tariffs. He’s been dead serious about tariffs for pretty much his entire adult life. This obsession goes back decades. Yes, people are opportunisticly using the chaos to profit, but the chaos is not the plan, just a side effect of Trump’s total inability to plan.