NBTTt: Why Trumps tariff chaos actually makes sense (the bigger picture) - Interesting wat
Hi Gaffer
Just watched that video you linked - interestingly the YouTube algorithm showed it to me earlier this week but I didn’t watch it immediately and it never came back.
It was an interesting watch, well researched. Thanks for posting it here. A few thoughts.
I don’t think Trump has the depth of thought on this topic that his advisors do. He’s selling the idea that he’ll bring back the golden age of industry for the US, and thinks he can sell tariffs as the silver bullet to make it happen. The video is setting out a much richer theory that Trump would never have articulated. But I can see that they would have been drawn to him as someone that would let them have a play with their pet theories. A marriage of convenience.
His advisors are clearly highly intelligent, but equally they have some pretty “fringe” views. It is an absolutely wild experiment they are trying, and I agree with the host of the video - they have forgotten the role trust plays in forming partnerships. If you’re happy to s**t on partners from a great height, you form a very different relationship with them. They remind me of Patrick Minford on Brexit. He is basically the one trade economist who firmly believes Brexit is economically a good idea, because he has developed a sophisticated trade model based on utterly wild assumptions. Not to say that a rogue economist can’t spot something that the mainstream misses, but often the rogue is just a nutter!
Final thought - if I was being REALLY cynical, I’d note that both Bessent and Miran are closely associated with macro hedge funds. The kind of funds that might well make vast amounts of money if they knew well in advance market sensitive news around, say, tariffs. Will be interesting to see what kind of financial performance they report for this period.
Posted By: Under soil heating on April 6th 2025 at 21:49:08
Message Thread
- NBTTt: Why Trumps tariff chaos actually makes sense (the bigger picture) - Interesting wat (General Chat) - Under soil heating, Apr 6, 21:49:08
- Agree that undoubtedly people are going to make millions off the current crisis. (General Chat) - The Gaffer, Apr 7, 06:44:32
- Shorting like hell just before the collapse (n/m) (General Chat) - footymadman, Apr 7, 00:11:35
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