• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

Are Trump's tariffs supposed to "make America rich again" or put stocks on sale for bottom feeding billionaires.

This stock market crash has nothing to do with capitalism in fact it is the opposite. Trump is a communist who despises the free market. Stock are an anachronism under Trump's policies. He is using the Govt. to control corporations and it his tariffs are a huge VAT on consumers that will crush our GDP that is 75% consumer spending. You are free to invest as you wish but you are betting that Trump will fail and we will recover someday.

At a more fundamental level though tariffs are anti-capitalist. Capitalism thrives when capital can freely flow to where it’s most efficiently utilized. It’s not called “free” trade because it’s costless. There are always trade-offs in trade. It’s called free trade because traders are free to choose where they will allocate their trade. We let corporations choose where to allocate capital and labor because we know that free markets are better at allocating capital than governments. So it’s especially odd to see the party of free market capitalism promoting a policy agenda that is very much against free market individualism. It’s even weirder to see that party promoting a corporate tax increase that will ultimately end up being a consumer, labor and shareholder tax. I don’t intend to sound political. This is just a basic fundamental truth of free trade and Capitalism. If you think the government is great at fixing things then tariffs are for you. If you’re a true Capitalist then you should despise tariffs.

https://disciplinefunds.com/2025/02/03/lets-talk-about-tariffs/
 
Last edited:
Why is Trump negotiating in public. That allows rampant insider trading.
???

What is he negotiating in public?
 
OK. So we're all gonna go broke and die. That sucks.
 
OK. So we're all gonna go broke and die. That sucks.
Yes a lot of Americans will lose their jobs and you don't care and neither does Trump. That is where we are now so enjoy it while it lasts. There are dark clouds on the horizon but just ignore them.
 
Announcing everything in the media.
Ummm...

Announcing stuff isn't "negotiation".

What do you have against transparency?
 
Ummm...

Announcing stuff isn't "negotiation".

What do you have against transparency?
It is when every phone call is announced to the public and it moves markets. Do you need examples?
 
It is when every phone call is announced to the public and it moves markets. Do you need examples?
Don't bother. You still don't understand what a negotiation is, so you would be wasting my time.
 
Don't bother. You still don't understand what a negotiation is, so you would be wasting my time.
I know what malfeasance in office is.
 
are they a transient market manipulation
This week you will read many confused economists and political pundits who won’t understand how the tariffs make economic sense. That’s because they don’t. They aren’t designed as economic policy. The tariffs are simply a new, super dangerous political tool.

You see, our founders created a President with limited and checked powers. They specifically put the power of spending and taxation in the hands of the legislature. Why? Because they watched how kings and despots used spending and taxes to control their subjects.


British kings used taxation to reward loyalty and punish dissent. Our own revolution was spurred by the King’s use of heavy taxation of the colonies to punish our push for self governance. The King’s message was simple: stop protesting and I’ll stop taxing.

Trump knows that he can weaken (and maybe destroy) democracy by using spending and taxation in the same way. He is using access to government funds to bully universities, law firms and state and local governments into loyalty pledges.



Link
 
Ummm...

Announcing stuff isn't "negotiation".

What do you have against transparency?
There is pleading from the countries he is harming but Trump has said he won't budge on the tariffs. They are set in stone according to him

In an all-caps message on his Truth Social social media platform, Trump sought to convey his defiance in the wake of news that Beijing is preparing to hit back with 34% tariffs of its own.


“TO THE MANY INVESTORS COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES AND INVESTING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF MONEY, MY POLICIES WILL NEVER CHANGE,” he claimed. “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO GET RICH, RICHER THAN EVER BEFORE!!!”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/04/trump-tariffs-truth-social
 
What's the idea here? That in the short term they take massive losses but in the long term they gobble up what the other 99% own, which is pretty much nothing anyway?
No. They sold off their stock before the fall, then when the fall reaches where they think is the bottom, they buy them back up.
 
Nice to see a level headed post here. You obviously understand what Trump is trying to do, which is to bring back manufacturing to the US, and to bring the trade deficit more into balance. As you say, it would have been better to address trade agreements one country at a time. But Trump is impatient, and he likes to do things quickly, all at once, and in his bullying fashion.
The tariffs may or may not work, but doing nothing might be just as bad. OR accept the United States decline into a secondary power as it comes - which may have been the strategy of the globalists.

Anyway, all we can do is wait it out and see what happens. What measure of success (if any) will come because of the other countries response. Will they come negotiate, will they be angry, offended, and retaliate? Will they forget about us and ally themselves with China? Most likely there will probably be some pros and cons, it's just a question of where the balance between them will end up. As for the stock market, it will go back up once we all understand what the new rules of conducting business are going to be.
 

well certainly this should be a buying opportunity.

Buffet got out of the stock market and has his company into cash at the moment. this should drive Trillions into treasury bonds for the scared money.

and we may get canada/mexico/greenland cheap when they default.

.
 
No. They sold off their stock before the fall, then when the fall reaches where they think is the bottom, they buy them back up.

Is there an indication this happened?
 
Is there an indication this happened?
I've been hearing about wealthy investors selling off their stock for about the past six months now. Not sure what the reason was though. Maybe they were just expecting a correction.
 
but doing nothing might be just as bad.
LOL....seriously? You are witnessing the 2-day largest drop in a long time, world markets in decline, US GDP projected to go negative in the next quarter....but your argument is that doing nothing, ie remaining with the last admins soft landing......would be worse?

Is that an example of "level headedness"?

wow
 
Because they want it all, and don't realize having it all will mean they have nothing, in the end?
 
OK. So we're all gonna go broke and die. That sucks.

Yes, it does. What is worse is the false hope that somehow things will all turn out ok even as Trump trashes everything and we should passively wait it out because things always magically get better.
 

Trump in effect is reversing the American Revolution. We can call it the American Devolution.