While I respect the thought and research that went into your article, this analysis rings more true to me:
“Trump’s hour long press event in the White House Rose Garden April 2, 2025 was described by himself as “Liberation Day.” The tariff taxes will liberate Trump from the constraints of the rule of law and will gradually liberate the Am…
While I respect the thought and research that went into your article, this analysis rings more true to me:
“Trump’s hour long press event in the White House Rose Garden April 2, 2025 was described by himself as “Liberation Day.” The tariff taxes will liberate Trump from the constraints of the rule of law and will gradually liberate the American people, as well as our friends abroad, from our money.
The tariff taxes that Trump imposes have nothing to do with coherent economic policy. The tariffs tax creates a personal treasury of bargaining chips that he will dispense one by one to keep the MAGA rank-and-file loyal and to impress world autocrats with the extent of his power.
Trump is a mob boss. He will receive selected loyal Republicans who have power and influence. He will hear their pleas, ruminate about what he might be able to do for them, and explain through veiled threats what they can do to in return for his benevolence. This is known in the trade as a protection racket. The only “constituents” who figure into any of this reside at the top of the economic food chain.
No. That is small-minded TDS, not rational policy analysis. It totally ignores the existential crisis we face with $35 trillion in debt and massive trade imbalances. But name calling rather than intelligent thought is the tool of choice on the pearl-clutching left these days. Too bad.
Did you just start a reply by name calling and then deride the person as unintelligent for name calling?
Having a positive take on policies like a 10% global tariffs, as the (post) author does, is not mutually exclusive from believing the person implementing that policy is unfit to successfully execute on them. There is an underlying economic theory to the steps being taken, but it is fair to point out that the psychology of the one steering the ship has been shown to be one of a retributive, vindictive, and narcissistic nature. The pen for signing their lauded policies may have been handed to a monkeys paw.
I’d like to ask everyone here a question. Does anyone look at this from the demand side? Do you think that it’s the 1% that has driven the massive sales growth at WalMart, Target, Costco over the past 30 years? Sales of everyday food, staples, clothing etc- a lot of which is not made in the US. Products which are sold on average at 3% profit margins or lower? Perhaps the 99% should stop demanding the cheapest products, made wherever they have to be to get onto shelves, from companies who employ more and more folks every year.
Friends, you do not know what is best for the American people. I do not know. What we have is demand. We can observe that every hour of every day.
And do you really think that this socialist project really works without price and margin controls on companies? At 3% net margins, do you really think these stores won’t be passing on higher costs for American goods to American consumers? Have fun with your wage-price spiral- unless you MAGA folks go full on socialist and try to control prices. That will be great for America! Let’s Go!
And I have no TDS to be clear. I was rooting for Trump to produce a measured, thoughtful approach to trade, re-shoring, fiscal deficit reduction and private vs public sector growth. I’m all in on that. You don’t reverse 40 years of policy in 3 months. Trump has 4 years. Breaking the system only forces us to start from a much lower base- not just for the 1% but the 100%. And poor messaging as Oren states only exacerbates the problem.
I looked at the markup for Nike and Apple. It's huge. Sneakers that retail for over a hundred dollars cost under twenty to make. While the markup on food is small, on imported non perishables it's pretty big.
We can't expect people to make a choice to buy American. Any sensible person buys the best quality at the lowest price. For many things there is no domestic choice.
Lots of upper income people shop at Walmart, Target, and Costco.
“ During the first half of 2024, households making less than $50,000 annually accounted for 41% of Walmart’s average monthly active users, compared to 36% for hard discount, 30% for supermarkets and 28% for target.
However, Walmart’s most affluent segment, households with $200,000 or more in annual income, expanded to 8%, growing almost five times faster than the 4% year-over-year growth for its overall average monthly active user base. ”
“ When it comes to income, 47% of Target shoppers are in the middle-income range ($40,000 to $125,000 annually, and 32% fall into the high-income bracket ($125,000 annually). Twenty-one percent of shoppers fall into the low-income (under $40,000 annually) bracket. Other Target insights from Numerator are below.”
“ So who, exactly, are the people flocking to Costco’s warehouses? According to recent data, 66% of Costco customers are Gen X (born 1965-1981) or Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964), and 61% are white.
About half (46%) of shoppers are middle income (household income: between $40,000 and $125,000), while 36% are high income (household income: over $125,000).”
This is your response? This is why we are in so much trouble.
My point is that lower, middle class Americans - this takes you easily into $125-200k income range- rely on low priced, high quality goods that will be much more difficult to find in a high tariff world. And wages will take much longer to equalize to prices- leaving these Americans in far worse shape for far longer than any of you imagine.
It depends where you live. $150k in NYC is not the same as in Little Rock. It’s just annoying that nobody responds to my larger point. Decent quality food and staples- all but the very rich are sensitive- anyone I know even at $200-300k is careful about what they spend and have a budget. Problem is prices of these goods will go up dramatically long before wages catch up. OR, wages will never catch up because if high-priced tariffed goods can’t be passed on to consumers, then retailers with 3% profit margins are going to scale back and that leads to lower production- making the tariffs counter productive.
Either way, a recession and or stagflation will bury the lower and middle classes. High unemployment will cause massive hardship to those already struggling. Ted Cruz has it right by sounding the alarm for Republicans- continuing on this path will not lead to good outcome in midterms.
Uh, Kurt, Don set the record for debt accumulation in his first term:) Wait a few weeks and you'll see his latest installment with the next tax/budget bill. Don cares not a whit about debt, he's the self proclaimed "king of debt", who went bankrupt six times, only to be bailed out by becoming a game show personality. Prior to Dons inauguration our economy was the envy of the world. Yes, we had challenges, but maga, for all the whining, never tells us where they would rather live. Hungary is nice I hear...
While I respect the thought and research that went into your article, this analysis rings more true to me:
“Trump’s hour long press event in the White House Rose Garden April 2, 2025 was described by himself as “Liberation Day.” The tariff taxes will liberate Trump from the constraints of the rule of law and will gradually liberate the American people, as well as our friends abroad, from our money.
The tariff taxes that Trump imposes have nothing to do with coherent economic policy. The tariffs tax creates a personal treasury of bargaining chips that he will dispense one by one to keep the MAGA rank-and-file loyal and to impress world autocrats with the extent of his power.
Trump is a mob boss. He will receive selected loyal Republicans who have power and influence. He will hear their pleas, ruminate about what he might be able to do for them, and explain through veiled threats what they can do to in return for his benevolence. This is known in the trade as a protection racket. The only “constituents” who figure into any of this reside at the top of the economic food chain.
The American People must organize and resist.”
-Diane Blank
No. That is small-minded TDS, not rational policy analysis. It totally ignores the existential crisis we face with $35 trillion in debt and massive trade imbalances. But name calling rather than intelligent thought is the tool of choice on the pearl-clutching left these days. Too bad.
Did you just start a reply by name calling and then deride the person as unintelligent for name calling?
Having a positive take on policies like a 10% global tariffs, as the (post) author does, is not mutually exclusive from believing the person implementing that policy is unfit to successfully execute on them. There is an underlying economic theory to the steps being taken, but it is fair to point out that the psychology of the one steering the ship has been shown to be one of a retributive, vindictive, and narcissistic nature. The pen for signing their lauded policies may have been handed to a monkeys paw.
I’d like to ask everyone here a question. Does anyone look at this from the demand side? Do you think that it’s the 1% that has driven the massive sales growth at WalMart, Target, Costco over the past 30 years? Sales of everyday food, staples, clothing etc- a lot of which is not made in the US. Products which are sold on average at 3% profit margins or lower? Perhaps the 99% should stop demanding the cheapest products, made wherever they have to be to get onto shelves, from companies who employ more and more folks every year.
Friends, you do not know what is best for the American people. I do not know. What we have is demand. We can observe that every hour of every day.
And do you really think that this socialist project really works without price and margin controls on companies? At 3% net margins, do you really think these stores won’t be passing on higher costs for American goods to American consumers? Have fun with your wage-price spiral- unless you MAGA folks go full on socialist and try to control prices. That will be great for America! Let’s Go!
And I have no TDS to be clear. I was rooting for Trump to produce a measured, thoughtful approach to trade, re-shoring, fiscal deficit reduction and private vs public sector growth. I’m all in on that. You don’t reverse 40 years of policy in 3 months. Trump has 4 years. Breaking the system only forces us to start from a much lower base- not just for the 1% but the 100%. And poor messaging as Oren states only exacerbates the problem.
I looked at the markup for Nike and Apple. It's huge. Sneakers that retail for over a hundred dollars cost under twenty to make. While the markup on food is small, on imported non perishables it's pretty big.
We can't expect people to make a choice to buy American. Any sensible person buys the best quality at the lowest price. For many things there is no domestic choice.
Lots of upper income people shop at Walmart, Target, and Costco.
“ During the first half of 2024, households making less than $50,000 annually accounted for 41% of Walmart’s average monthly active users, compared to 36% for hard discount, 30% for supermarkets and 28% for target.
However, Walmart’s most affluent segment, households with $200,000 or more in annual income, expanded to 8%, growing almost five times faster than the 4% year-over-year growth for its overall average monthly active user base. ”
“ When it comes to income, 47% of Target shoppers are in the middle-income range ($40,000 to $125,000 annually, and 32% fall into the high-income bracket ($125,000 annually). Twenty-one percent of shoppers fall into the low-income (under $40,000 annually) bracket. Other Target insights from Numerator are below.”
Chainstoreage.com
“ So who, exactly, are the people flocking to Costco’s warehouses? According to recent data, 66% of Costco customers are Gen X (born 1965-1981) or Baby Boomers (born 1946-1964), and 61% are white.
About half (46%) of shoppers are middle income (household income: between $40,000 and $125,000), while 36% are high income (household income: over $125,000).”
Investopedia.com
This is your response? This is why we are in so much trouble.
My point is that lower, middle class Americans - this takes you easily into $125-200k income range- rely on low priced, high quality goods that will be much more difficult to find in a high tariff world. And wages will take much longer to equalize to prices- leaving these Americans in far worse shape for far longer than any of you imagine.
I was responding to what appears to be a misconception.
125-200k is not lower middle class. It’s top 20% to top 10%, which us NOT lower middle.
Lower middle class Americans are generally sensitive to food, gas, and housing prices above all else.
It depends where you live. $150k in NYC is not the same as in Little Rock. It’s just annoying that nobody responds to my larger point. Decent quality food and staples- all but the very rich are sensitive- anyone I know even at $200-300k is careful about what they spend and have a budget. Problem is prices of these goods will go up dramatically long before wages catch up. OR, wages will never catch up because if high-priced tariffed goods can’t be passed on to consumers, then retailers with 3% profit margins are going to scale back and that leads to lower production- making the tariffs counter productive.
You might be right…. Or wrong. Time will tell us.
Either way, a recession and or stagflation will bury the lower and middle classes. High unemployment will cause massive hardship to those already struggling. Ted Cruz has it right by sounding the alarm for Republicans- continuing on this path will not lead to good outcome in midterms.
Does not depend on where you live. Statistically ( don’t need to look up) anyone making over 100k a year is an exceedingly minor cohort.
Uh, Kurt, Don set the record for debt accumulation in his first term:) Wait a few weeks and you'll see his latest installment with the next tax/budget bill. Don cares not a whit about debt, he's the self proclaimed "king of debt", who went bankrupt six times, only to be bailed out by becoming a game show personality. Prior to Dons inauguration our economy was the envy of the world. Yes, we had challenges, but maga, for all the whining, never tells us where they would rather live. Hungary is nice I hear...
Blow off