High unemployment, high inflation, and high interest rates 6% or higher all at the same time plagued the country for six years 1975-1982, but we survived

 There were six years when all three, the unemployment rate, headline inflation, and 10-year US Treasury yield, were at 6% or higher on an average basis at the same time:

1975: 8.5%  9.14%  7.99%

1977: 7.1%  6.46%  7.42%

1978: 6.1%  7.62%  8.41%

1980: 7.2%  13.5%  11.43%

1981: 7.6%  10.37%  13.92%

1982: 9.7%  6.15%  13.01%.

 

In March 2025 unemployment was 4.2%, headline inflation was 2.4%, and the 10Y yielded 4.28%.

The current data set is no compelling case for reducing interest rates.  If Trump had confidence in his tariff regime, he wouldn't be clamoring for further reductions.

 

LOL Trump tariff revenue, about $7 billion a month, is averaging what came in under Joe Biden in 2024, which was $7.2 billion per month

 

... The agency said in a statement to CNBC, “Since April 5, CBP has collected over $500 million under the new reciprocal tariffs, contributing to more than $21 billion in total tariff revenue from 15 presidential trade actions implemented since Jan 20, 2025.” ...

Trump has repeatedly said the United States is taking in $2 billion per day from tariffs. ...

-- CNBC

 

In the age of everything that is good is awesome, everything bad must be an emergency

 The Zeitgeist is epitomized by a general hysteria, incapable of proportional thinking and hostile to reason, and so it should come as no surprise that our new leadership is exploiting that for its own ends, mostly to distract you while they make money hand over fist.

Everything is awesome. Everyone is great.

But everything is also a disaster, and the worst ever.

COVID was going to kill us all. The vaccines were going to save us all.

Biden was going to cure cancer. RFK Jr is going to solve the mystery of autism by September.

All those people streaming across the border during the Biden administration were seeking asylum. Now under Trump they were an invading enemy army.

The recession of 2008 had to be The Great Recession, or The Great Financial Crisis, as if 10.7% unemployment in 4Q1982 was the golden age of Ronald Reagan, and over 3,000 savings and loans didn't go belly up during that decade and part of the next.

Heat waves and cold waves are unprecedented, unless you talk to an old person. We have 12 years left before global warming kills us all.

Putin is going to launch a thermonuclear WWIII, same as Saddam Hussein.

So of course trade deficits are suddenly an emergency.

U.S. businesses sue to block Trump tariffs, say trade deficits are not an emergency

 

Citigroup profits rise 21%, stock trading revenue rises 23%

 CNBC:

Citigroup on Tuesday posted first-quarter results that exceeded analysts’ estimates as the firm’s traders generated more revenue than expected. ... “increased market volatility” and higher client activity led to more transactions ... a boom in equities trading revenue as the banks took advantage of volatility in the quarter. ...

Bank of America overall profits up 11%, stock trading revenue up 17%

Bank of America on Tuesday posted first-quarter results that topped analysts’ expectations for profit and revenue on stronger-than-expected net interest income and trading revenue. ...

JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs each exceeded analysts’ estimates on a boom in equities trading revenue as banks took advantage of volatility in the quarter.

More.

Morgan Stanley: But we'll be there for ya!

Morgan Stanley: Expect to be ‘fooled many more times’ on tariffs

Trump tariff chaos is literally equity traders' gold

 

 On again, off again, on again tariffs from The Puppet Master have enriched stock traders Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley. They don't care if stocks go up, or down, as long as they keep going up, going down, going up. Trump chaos is literally traders' gold.

Goldman profit is up 15% from the year earlier period.

Goldman Sachs tops estimates on boom in equities trading revenue

 ... equity trading revenue rose 27%. ... On Friday, rivals JPMorgan Chase and Morgan Stanley each topped expectations for first-quarter results on booming equities trading.

Equities trading revenue surged 48% and 45% at the banks, respectively, thanks to volatility in the opening months of Trump’s tenure amid his efforts to reshape global trade agreements.

 

They're calling the 10Y at 4.5% the moron premium because everyone hates Trump and his tariffs, but I don't remember it being called the 5% dotard premium under Joe Biden

People need to get a grip.

Blaming hapless Liz Truss' two-months as PM in September and October 2022 for the UK's high interest rates pretends that the Bank of England didn't raise interest rates in response to inflation same as the US Federal Reserve Bank.

This trashy headline belongs in The Daily Star, not the UK Telegraph. No wonder they're trying to sell you a 1-year subscription for only 29 pounds.

 

 

Paper tiger strikes again: Another delay for Liberation Day as Trump exempts China's number one export category to the United States from draconian tariffs

 Trump exempts phones, computers, chips from new tariffs

President Donald Trump exempted smartphones, computers, and other tech devices and components from his reciprocal tariffs, new guidance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection shows.

The guidance, issued late Friday evening, comes after Trump earlier this month imposed 145% tariffs on products from China, a move that threatened to take a toll on tech giants like Apple, which makes iPhones and most of its other products in China.

The guidance also includes exclusions for other electronic devices and components, including semiconductors, solar cells, flat panel TV displays, flash drives, and memory cards. ...

Phony, baloney, plastic banana, good time rock 'n rolla.

Crimes in high places: Mad King Ludwig admits he decided to pause tariffs early in the morning on Wednesday when he also posted "This is a great time to buy", which amounts to market manipulation

 

 Trump was asked by a reporter on Wednesday when he decided to put a pause on the tariffs. 

“I would say this morning. Over the last few days, I’ve been thinking about it. Fairly early this morning,” he said.

Quoted here in "Fund managers quietly fear Trump doesn't have a tariff plan and that he 'might be insane'".

Markets fell big again after yesterday's tariff pause rally

 

Rasmussen Trump Approval Index goes double digit negative for the first time in his second term during tariff fiasco

 

Trump administration admits it paused reciprocal tariffs because it was intimidated by the bond market and backed down

James Carville must be laughing his ass off.

 

Canada stopped exports of hydroelectric power to New England on March 6th

On March 6, at the start of the still-simmering trade war between the U.S. and Canada, hydropower generator Hydro‑Québec quietly stopped exporting electricity to New England. ...

Hydro‑Québec’s main transmission line into New England, known as the Phase II line, stopped exporting any meaningful amount of power two days after President Donald Trump’s tariff on Canadian imports went into effect. Last March, by comparison, anywhere from a few hundred megawatts to more than 1,200 MW flowed along the line at any given time, making up between 5% and 10% of the region’s electricity use on average, Turner estimated. ... 

Last year, 5,560 gigawatt-hours of power traveled into the region over the Phase II line, less than half the amount exported in 2022. ...

More.

You thought tariffs were supposed to be Liberation Day for you when it was really for them

 It's always for them.

He should be in Sing Sing for this utter corruption.

Meanwhile all that bullshit about Liberation will have to wait 90 days.

Trump’s morning ‘buy’ call nets huge returns for those who listened

... Trump Media & Technology shares initially popped after Trump referenced his initials in the post, with some investors appearing to know he was referring to the stock ticker.

The stock fell to $16.69 in the minute of his post to buy shares. It has since soared as high as $20.40, which marks a jump of more than 22%. ...

The bond market vigilantes scared off Donald Trump and his tariffs: Average yield at today's 10-year note auction was 4.435% vs. 4.31% at the previous auction

 

LOL Trump folds like a cheap suit, pauses so-called reciprocal tariffs for 90 days, keeps 10% tariff on most countries

 

President Donald Trump on Wednesday dropped tariffs under his new trade plan to 10% on imports from most countries, as he announced a 90-day pause for stiffer, so-called reciprocal tariffs that took effect this week. ...

More.

Tariffs have no power here: US Treasury yields pop higher, 30-year mortgage hits highest in a month 6.85%, S&P 500 gives up 4% relief rally

 Stock market relief rally fizzles out with S&P 500 erasing 4% gain: Live updates

Mortgage rates slingshot higher as tariff uncertainty roils markets

 

 

Ceding tariff authority to the executive was the Congress' way of escaping the political consequences of fulfilling their responsibilities under the constitution, but that may be changing

 The phenomenon is mirrored in the states by the enthusiasm for referenda, aka ballot measures, which are promoted as democracy but are in fact simply a reflection of elected representatives' desire to escape the consequences of their votes.

"Hey, don't look at me, that's what the people wanted".

 

7 GOP senators sign on to bill to check Trump’s trade authority 

Seven Republican senators, including Sen. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), the Senate’s president pro tempore, and Sen. Mitch McConnell (Ky.), the former Senate Republican leader, have signed on to a bipartisan bill that would require Congress to approve President Trump’s steep tariffs on trading partners.

Grassley and McConnell have joined five other Republicans — Sens. Jerry Moran (Kan.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Todd Young (Ind.) and Susan Collins (Maine) — in supporting the Trade Review Act of 2025. ...

It would require that new tariffs sunset after 60 days unless Congress passes a joint resolution approving them.

And it provides a pathway for Congress to cancel tariffs before the 60-day period expires by passing a joint resolution of disapproval.

Trump has already threatened to veto the bill. ...

Trump last week announced reciprocal tariffs on more than 180 countries and territories by invoking his authority under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

 

Yeah, that saying everything is an emergency business has got to go, too

 

 

The people didn't vote for relief later, they've endured horrible inflation since 2021 and expected Trump to fix it, not make it worse

Asking the people to make more sacrifices, to get even poorer through tariff-induced higher prices, all for the sake of The Party und Der Führer is really . . . rich.

Trump's Tough-Love Tariffs: Pain Now, Prosperity Later

Michael Busler, Blaze Media

 

It's always prosperity later. It's always spending cuts later.

 

But every damn day is time for tax cuts for the rich.