Thursday, March 13, 2025

Mad Tariff King

Tariffs could be a reasonable part of an industrial policy (something we pretend we don't have but do, deliberately or not), but Trump is just pushing the 'tariff' button because he likes to watch his little friends on the TV get excited about it when he does (or, perhaps, making lots of money on insider trading). It's his way of lashing out and entertaining himself.






Goods are inputs to production, not just for consumption, with some traveling across multiple borders at multiple production stages. No one can justify sticking a factory in the US with the mad king changing the rules every day. They won't be able to justify keeping them there.