Trump still doesn’t understand inflation. Former President Trump loves tariffs. He also has no idea how tariffs work and doesn’t understand how his proposed policies would pile higher costs on American consumers. Contrary to his long-standing belief, tariffs are not paid by the exporting country.

5 comments

1. Don’t worry, it will just be transitory.

2. Trump was pushing for rate cuts under a supposedly strong economy. The checks sent out to households had his name on them. I’m not saying the democratic party is good at fighting inflation, but thinking the Republicans would be better is also insane.

3. I think it’s a fools errand to conflate what’s good politically with what’s good for the country in the macro. Trump likes tariffs because it’s a winner politically, much in the same way banking deregulation was a winner for Clinton. Biden upholds Trumps tariffs for the same reason that Bush upheld Clinton’s deregulation – because it’s political suicide to reverse it.

   Whether these gambits serve the country or not, is wholly irrelevant. Like everything around us, it’s politics.

   [https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2024/03/larger-lesson-about-tariffs-in-a-move-that-helped-trump-but-not-the-country/](https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2024/03/larger-lesson-about-tariffs-in-a-move-that-helped-trump-but-not-the-country/)

   “If they didn’t work, why has the Biden administration kept them in place?
   I think they understand that U.S. tariffs on Chinese imports are politically popular. If they were to reverse Trump’s trade policy, they’d be seen as trying to restore the era of hyper-globalization which preceded Trump and during which many American workers feel like they lost out. It would have been a political blunder.
   The trade war was successful in one respect — boosting support for Trump and the Republican Party”

4. He doesn’t understand his ass from his mouth, let alone economic tarrif policies.

5. Trump is one of the stupidest people on earth , no surprise at all.