Skip to main content

interiors: And the Trade War Came - The New York Times

Since it involves predictions about the Trump presidency, a post on another of my sites, I thought to report here:
Trump might have made inflammatory statements about trade, from his cabinet choices it looks like a ploy to increase defense expenditures and oil profits. His hard-right appointees will unsettle regions, if not lead to all-out war, and doing so requires increases in defense, and a disrupted oil flow will increase the cost of oil that will increase Exxon's profit margin and turn US extraction profitable. Even his anti-terrorism slant would lead to profits in companies tied to Peter Thiel, Palantir. Expanding infrastructure and real estate deals, disguised as urban renewal, could also assist Trump, or at least enlarge his influence over the real estate world.

You might be right in predicting he will increase tariffs, as well as foul trade in other ways, but most presidents tone down their rhetoric once they are in power. Unless Trump's business empire can benefit from disrupted trade, why would he bother going after it, but then again, why would he care about oil and defense?
An additional thought, posted after the original:
One has to wonder, how does Trump, or Ivanka, benefit from tariffs? Considering that Trump himself is a know-nothing, anti-intellectual, what has shaped his view of trade. I would guess it is the family clothing lines. That said, how are they impacted? Regardless of the effect on the US, Trump cares about himself, and to some degree his family. If the Trumps will benefit, tariffs will be implemented, and if it might hurt their businesses, tariffs won't be implemented.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It Started With a Jolt: How New York Became a Tech Town

#1 When a city is dominated by one industry, particularly finance, that can spell ruin for its inhabitants. Good for the wealthy and the people in the industry, mediocre for many others. Tech might smooth things out a bit, but there is no reason we need to give anything to a behemoth for coming here. Many are already make NYC home. Although not the only one, NYC has some of the best universities, many top-tier companies, pools of talented people, and the best cultural amenities. There was no reason to kowtow to a behemoth to come here. NYC is big and innovative, and it will stay big and innovative for the foreseeable future. Tech was here before and will it be here after, without being dominated by a single company. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/22/technology/nyc-tech-startups.html?comments#permid=30741436 #2 Why we would we want to be a tech town or any kind of single-industry town? Why would we want to trade one harmful kind of industry, finance, for an equally bad indust...
Post a Comment
Read more

In Amazon Fight, Progressives Showed What They Want: A New Economic Agenda

In the end, the failure of this deal lays at the feet of Cuomo and De Blasio. It's a deal that should have never been made or should have been done in a way that wasn't filled with one-sided giveaways. As Amy Liu, vice president and director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution, describes, Virginia worked with local constituents to address concerns, negotiated a deal that required jobs from Amazon in exchange for incentives, and put more money into developing an education-focused job pipeline, rather than a simple giveaway to Amazon. Many people are going to blame a vocal minority for the failure when the problem was the deal itself. It could have been done to satisfy the critics, or at least mollify them, while still delivering for New York. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/16/business/amazon-economy-taxes.html?comments#permid=30664506
Post a Comment
Read more

The Misadventures of an Idealistic Restaurant in Cut-Throat New York - Response

Consumers need to bear the brunt of a decent wage, mandated by law, a sufficient living one, and when enacted across the board, prices rise such that we are paying adequately. If left to individual restauranteurs it will always be a race to the bottom... https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/21/nyregion/the-misadventures-of-an-idealistic-restaurant-in-a-cut-throat-city.html?comments#permid=29866833
Post a Comment
Read more