What, $5 trillion in crypto? Ukraine?
Sunday, April 6, 2025
Normally you institute protectionist policies like tariffs when you already have something to protect, not before
But our Orwellian Republicans put the cart before the horse.
You can't return to something which no longer exists. The net trade deficit for 2024 is nearly $1 trillion, instead of flat like during the post-war up until Reagan, who first ran in 1976 against Ford, when tariffs still had something to protect but we listened to the siren song of free-trade instead.
That is why the Trump administration has had to cast about for at least six different reasons for instituting tariffs at the present time, none of which are at all convincing otherwise there wouldn't be six of them, not to mention that the math used for them is preposterous, or that they are the farthest thing from reciprocal.
The real reason for them, however, is that the tariffs, like the executive orders which now number over 100, are the immediate strings available to our Puppet Master, which he can pull this way one day and that way another, your ever present reminder of who is in charge around here. Suck up to him and he'll make a deal.
Trump's White House laughably brags about these things.
New taxes, which is what these tariffs are, are liberating don't you see!
Our mad King Ludwig needs this constant adulation. The tyrant has desires which he can never fulfill, Plato warned us.
But of course all this can be undone by the next president, which is no way to run a country. It makes for deep institutional instability and distrust throughout the global economy, for which few can reasonably plan.
The message remains the same: Expect Kaos.
Saturday, April 5, 2025
Federal judge orders US authorities to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia from El Salvador by April 7
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration on Friday to return Kilmar Abrego Garcia back to the United States after he was accidentally sent to a notorious megajail in El Salvador.
U.S. District Court in Greenbelt, Maryland, Judge Paula Xinis ruled that the government must return Garcia by April 7 at 11:59 pm.
Garcia, a protected legal resident who has been living in Maryland since 2011 and is originally from El Salvador, was sent back to El Salvador on March 15 because of what the Trump administration called an “administrative error” in court filings Monday. ...
More.
Friday, April 4, 2025
Trump nukes $6.6 trillion from the stock market in the last two days with tariff announcement, the biggest 2-day wipeout in history, $11.1 trillion since the inauguration
Reported here:
Roughly $11.1 trillion has been wiped away from the U.S. stock market since Jan. 17, the Friday before President Donald Trump took the oath of office and began his second term, according to data from Dow Jones Market Data.
Some $6.6 trillion of that figure was lost on Thursday and Friday alone — the largest two-day wipeout of shareholder value on record, Dow Jones data showed. ...
Investors sell gold to cover stock losses, but price remains above moving average of $3,023
Reported here:
... Spot gold was down 2.9% at $3,024.2 an ounce, after hitting a session low of $3,015.29 earlier in the session.
It hit a record high of $3,167.57 on Thursday. For the week, gold was down 1.9%.
U.S. gold futures settled 2.8% lower at $3,035.40.
On the technical front, spot gold price managed to hold above its 21-day moving average of $3,023. ...
Thursday, April 3, 2025
Trump tariff math is about trade imbalances and is not about a reciprocal response to a rate, requiring a trading partner to buy more from the United States rather than just eliminating its tariff rate
In other words Trump's calculations of foreign countries' tariffs on the United States result in fictional rates.
From the story here:
... For instance, the U.S. claims that China charges a tariff of 67%. The U.S. ran a deficit of $295.4 billion with China in 2024, while imported goods were worth $438.9 billion, according to official data. When you divide $295.4 billion by $438.9 billion, the result is 67%! The same math checks out for Vietnam.
“The formula is about trade imbalances with the U.S. rather than reciprocal tariffs in the sense of tariff level or non-tariff level distortions. This makes it very difficult for Asian, particularly the poorer Asian countries, to meet US demand to reduce tariffs in the short-term as the benchmark is buying more American goods than they export to the U.S., ” according to Trinh Nguyen, senior economist of emerging Asia at Natixis.
The U.S. also appeared to have applied a 10% levy for regions where it is running a trade surplus. ...
Futures at 7:00 AM EST:
Wednesday, April 2, 2025
Ron Klain says Biden's brain was applesauce, but still believed Biden should have stayed in the race after the bad debate with Trump
Well, that doesn't make any sense.
From the story here:
... Even after the disastrous debate, by his own telling to Whipple, Klain believed Biden should have stayed in the race – a statement that jars with Klain’s account of debate prep at Camp David. ...
Mad King Ludwig says pigs will fly
You're going to see billions of dollars, even trillions of dollars coming into our country very soon in the form of tariffs.
Venezuelan gangs in America are an invasion like January 6th riots were an insurrection
Brought to you courtesy of the UniParty, the Red, White, and Blue.
Count me out.
Mad King Ludwig will never get the Nobel Peace Prize now, even if he does end the Russian war in Ukraine
US cancels visa of Nobel Peace Prize winner Oscar Arias
The former president of Costa Rica, Oscar Arias, says his US visa has been revoked.
Arias, a Nobel laureate, said he was informed of the decision weeks after he had publicly criticised Donald Trump, comparing the behaviour of the US president to that of a Roman emperor.
The 84-year-old, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in brokering an end to conflicts in Central America, said US authorities had given no explanation. ...
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
The New York Times has called the race for the Wisconsin Supreme Court for the candidate endorsed by Democrats
Elon Musk had invested heavily in electing the candidate endorsed by Republicans in the race.
The New York Times shows FL-1 and FL-6 staying Republican with each GOP candidate garnering about 57% of the vote in tonight's special elections to replace Gaetz and Waltz
US HOUSE:
GOP 220
DEM 213 (two vacancies due to deaths; seats expected to stay Democrat yielding 215)
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