Fortress America
A serious tax increase on average Americans.
There’s something to be said about stability and predictability — something many of us strive to achieve in our individual lives. A few of us succeed.
Foreign investors buy American debt because they consider it to be a safe investment. If economic issues and uncertainty continue to bedevil this country, it is entirely possible that within a few years, the dollar will no longer remain the world’s reserve currency. If outsiders refuse to buy debt and finance our budget deficits, the level of pain and suffering for ordinary Americans will increase dramatically.
The stock market has been in freefall since last week. Trump’s economic advisors are all over television networks, twisting themselves into pretzels to defend the indefensible. If there is one thing investors hate, it is uncertainty.
The global economy is in great danger due to trade wars and myopic policies involving tariffs. An economic world built on the premises of Fortress America is one that existed in the 1920s and 1930s, a period followed by another devastating global conflict that, by some estimates, killed between 55-60 million people.
The Wall Street Journal reports Trump “privately acknowledged that his trade policy could trigger a recession but said he wanted to be sure it didn’t cause a depression.”
On top of this, plans to make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent moved ahead in the US House of Representatives. Under the guise of eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse, the GOP-controlled chamber approved a Republican blueprint for raiding Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid to extend the tax cuts.
An economic recession later this year looms as a real threat for the country. If Trump does not reverse course from his disastrous economic policies, layoffs will increase, and millions will be unemployed. The economic pain would be widespread.
Is there a program in place to help alleviate expected financial suffering as in the COVID-19 era? No.
Jonathan Last: “The United States economy has been the center of global finance for 80 years for one simple reason: Year in and year out, we have been the safest place to do business. The ground rules remained constant and when they changed around the margins, they did so slowly and transparently.”
“Investing money is always risky—but America had the lowest level of risk on the planet. Our government, legal system, and business community worked hard to make that happen and the rewards we reaped for it were tremendous.”
“Donald Trump destroyed 80 years of that work over the last week. America is now a risky place to do business. A place where the rules change from day to day. Where no business can trust in the sturdiness of its long-term plans or count on its revenue projections even for the next quarter.”
“This abstract problem is going to create real-world economic hardship.”
Credit for the Editorial Cartoon at the Very Top: Chris Britt, Bluesky
The Art of the Deal
Able Was I Ere I Saw Elba
The Russian Invasion of 1812 was an unmitigated disaster for Napoleon Bonaparte.
Manual Updates Posted Here
You’re Only Good at Destroying Things
You Should Have Been Booted Out
So Much Winning!
Yeah, Go Away
Bitter Harvest
He Should Be in Jail
Showing His True Colors
It’s Just Collateral Damage
Ouch!
Loser
Former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said President Trump’s shifting tariff policy has increased the odds the U.S. will enter into a recession, the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Yellen said the Trump administration’s tariff policies could cost the average U.S. household $4,000 a year.”
Said Yellin: “This is the worst self-inflicted wound that I have ever seen an administration impose on a well-functioning economy.”
They Are Laughing at Him
Click This Link to See Another 17 Editorial Cartoons on Tariffs
Hell of a Ride
The Fast Retreat
Paul Krugman: “Anyone sounding the all-clear on tariffs, or Trump economic policy in general, should be kept away from sharp objects and banned from operating heavy machinery. We’re in a hardly better place than we were before Donald Trump announced a tariff pause (in a Truth Social post, of course.) In fact, we may be in a worse place.”
Here’s why:
- Even the post-pause tariff rates represent a huge protectionist shock.
- Destructive uncertainty about future policy has increased.
- We’re still at risk of a major financial crisis.
- The world now knows that Trump is weak as well as erratic.
He Did Start the Fire
No Way Out
Doing What He Does Best
One Hell of a Decent Guy
Don’t Know Much About History
What’d Ya Expect?
Faux Populism
Surprised?
Transition Costs
The Villains
From Our Canadian Friends
Roots
