Thank God for the stock exchange.
The market is one of the few things that Donald Trump can listen to – probably more than surveys and certainly more than its consultants – even if he does not want to hear what it says.
Trump during his first term Routed recognition routinely for Every new market highAt one point find that “the reason why our stock market is so successful because of my sake. “” When the market under President Biden went well, Trump said that he would win the next election.
It's all nonsense, but he believes it and he wants everyone else to believe it. And that could now be the advantage of the country, because when it became clear that Trump was determined to enforce his cockamamia tariff threats, the markets fell. And on Monday the government scored business to break for a month in Mexico and Canada.
Many of the FAT-CAT clothes hanger from the presidential New finance ministerScott Bessent – had convinced that Trump was not Really The “tariff man” describes himself as. They clicked together on the heels of their ruby ruins and repeated: “It is just a negotiating tool. It is just a negotiating instrument. “
No. On the sought -after Friday evening whether our three largest trading partners – Canada, Mexico and China – could do everything possible to prevent the implementation of his endangered tariffs, said Trump.Nothing. “” He continued to explain – again – that he believes that tariffs are valuable and desirable in itself, not only as a means of extracting concessions of any kind. “It is a pure economic measure,” he said.
The Wall Street Journal insulted The insane of it. Business and union leaders joined publicly and privately and ask him not to go this idiotic road.
His answer? To go on the attack“In the truth about social knowledge,” everyone who stands against tariffs, including the fake News Wall Street Journal, and hedge funds, is only against them because these people or companies are controlled by China or other foreign or domestic companies. “
This is also nonsense, but I particularly remain from the assumption that it is somehow scary or unpatriotic for “domestic companies” to resist the tariffs. Isn't that a different way to say that American companies do not want to be subject to additional taxes?
Politicians in the entire ideological spectrum have rejected the financial markets not to work with them. Former President Clinton was famous angry that the success of his administration could weaken from the approval of the bond markets. His political guru James Carville once joked: “I always thought when there was a reincarnation, I wanted to come back as President or Pope or as a 400 baseball grille. But now I would like to come back as a bond market. You can all intimidate. “
And for that we should be grateful. It is very clear that Trump can intimidate, corrupt, steamer, or to ignore the truth. The markets are the exception.
In fact, many Wall Street -Titan Trump now supports politically. But they still buy and sell shares based on economic reality. And the economic reality is that protectionism tends to injure the economy more than it helps. As the economist Henry George said a century ago: “What the protection teaches us should do us in the time of peace what enemies want to do to us in times of war.”
Protectionism also invites you to political corruption because companies are looking well, good, well, Protection From the bad politics of the government. Trump loves to take favors and punishments from case to case. No wonder that he enjoys a policy that enables him to choose winners and losers.
That is why so many sensible managing directors suck on him and lie about the wisdom of these guidelines: they want to stay on his good side. But while individuals can flatter them and use themselves, not the market.
Opponents of capitalism are annoyed by the impersonal efficiency of the market. You want the economy to be an expansion of politics. They confuse the amorality of economic decision -making with the immoral, which they attribute their political enemies.
During most of my life, such people lived to be on the ideological left. Progressive convicted excessive concern about inflation or debts as an excuse for the expression of the “more generous” policy, which favored their priorities or constituencies. They are now accompanied by many on nationalist law who want to see that business and markets contribute more to put “America first”.
The good news is that our markets are strong and diverse enough to resist such moral and intellectual corruption. Once prince -like free trade republicans and Wall Street Tycoons will continue to lie about Trump's economic wisdom, but the market will probably continue to say the truth. I hope he listens.