I keep on seeing prominent figures repeating the idea that tariffs are good, and that they work somehow. I'm not trying to be closed minded, so I'm digging deep into their worldview, but all I see is inconsistency.
I was surprised to see Pomp "happy" there's a new tax levied on the American consumer. He's so sure of his position, he's made long videos explaining to us, the little guys, how this whole thing is a 4D chess move, and how we just need to ride the wave.
In an attempt to see if he's seen refutations to his surprising position, I reached across the aisle, so to speak, to see if he's familiar with them.
Thomas Sowell in his book Basic Economics, explains that trade deficits or surpluses don’t inherently signal economic health—Germany and France had surpluses with high unemployment, while the U.S. thrived as a debtor nation during its industrial rise. Sowell sees tariffs as a simplistic fix that ignores this complexity, often pushed by politicians for short-term appeal rather than long-term gain.
Maybe these ideas are too complex to discuss in a twitter threat, I can accept that. But, it's not like they are hard to find or not debated hundreds of times in the square.
But, for the sake of expediency or efficiency, allow me to present the two horses the Trump administration is betting on at the moment, and let's take it from there.
The current administration is telling us these are the goals behind the tariffs:
On it's face, more so if these ideas are adorned with charisma and demagoguery, this sounds beautiful, desired even. But let's peel back the layers, one, to be exact.
Let's ask "the question":
Please, someone who does not wear a red hat unconditionally, explain it to me. If these industries move all their operations to America, then from what Industries are we going to collect all the money from?
It's a fair question, Is it not?
We got two horses, one saddle, and yet people are saying we just don't get it.
MenO
