Look at it from Trump's perspective for a moment. The only tool he has is tariffs, and the people he's negotiating with are not just foreign governments but also Congress. Because he has this authority he can use it to try to bring any of those to the table and negotiate alternative approaches. Not saying that's what he's doing. Just saying that's a possibility.
He's got the entire congress! He's got the entire universe of industrial policy to advance whatever domestic improvements he wants to pursue. Clearly they even have the political capital and appetite to do a massive tax increase!
The tone of discourse on HN has gotten quite negative lately. It can be possible for Trump to believe that what he's doing is good even if what he's doing proves bad. He seems sincere in thinking that yesterday's tariffs will do good for the U.S. Who knows, tariffs might yet do good (or not), and Democrats used to advocate roughly the same thing:
- Bernie, 2008: https://x.com/mazemoore/status/1907883583228051964
- Nancy Pelosi, 1996: https://x.com/ThomasSowell/status/1907875133638705646
- Roger Moore's films
Clearly they changed their minds. It would be interesting to see why they changed their minds.
The tone of HN is something. For instance there always seems to be someone partisan enough to defend Trump no matter how ridiculous and terrible his actions are.
It true that there are democrats who are more skeptical on free trade and I would disagree with some of their views although adding workers rights and minimum wages into trade agreements are things which might have some merit but none of them would try something as ridiculous and economically suicidal as this. They're literally putting tarrifs on an island with a bunch of Penguins.
That's because he's lazy and doesn't really care to learn about policy or listen to the vast majority of economists including conservative economists tell him he's blowing up the economy and he doesn't care much about the damage he causes. He might remotely care about the stock market going down or losing political power and being tried for some of his many crimes but he doesn't really care much if his supporters (much less the half of the country that voted for someone sane) suffer, starve or die from a preventable disease.
