The Frankish Reich

What nonsense. Even if we did only go from an average weighted tariff of 1.5% to 10%, you do get that that's a 6.5X increase? 650 percent increase? Nothing has ever been close. Not even 1832 (boy you went digging, I gotta give that to you!) And of course we only have (ostensibly) a 90 day pause on the big ones. Mr. 90 day/180 day/270 day/oh, let's forget I ever said something that stupid with my confusing chart in hand and move on with things.

OK, I'm an old guy. Not that old, but with old guy consumer habits. I know what shoe brands/styles I like. So I know the size/brand and check out Amazon (which owns Zappos). Sometimes I'll try things on in a Nordstrom Rack type store where you don't need someone to fetch the box, see what I like/fits, then go home and Google it to find it cheaper. True athletic shoes (think hiking boots)? I still have to get those in person. Fit is too important.

Did we win the Cold War? Too soon to tell. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/apr/23/back-in-the-ussr-lenin-statues-and-soviet-flags-reappear-in-russian-controlled-cities

Try it. You'll never go back.

Wow, Pepsi is now health food! Wait'll they see what RFK Jr says about high fructose corn syrup. The should sub beef tallow. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jan/18/rfk-jr-corn-syrup-ban-trump Wow, something I can get on board with!

Trump: "what a beautiful, powerful sight"

At what cost? Should we be growing coffee in huge greenhouses so we don't have to import it? Should we go back to the cottage industry days of a craftsman making wooden toys, so families can pay $150 for a bespoke doll instead of $25 for the plastic one the kid actually wants? All so we can feel better about ourselves and our "greatness?" I call that stupidity, which in my day was not a great thing. Which is typically a tell that it isn't ...

I agree. And no problem searching by size/color/style/price. I'm surprised men's shoes are even sold in stores today.

Spoken like Mitt Romney. He had a point.

Well, that's another possible explanation. But I prefer the illiteracy one. It means you can be educated.

The trade-weighted tariff average goes from 1.5% to 25.8% Does that look like a 64% rise to you like Fordney-McCumber 1922 was? Economic illiteracy? Math illiteracy? Both? EDIT: @Big Blitz - are you still struggling with the math? Here's a cheat: https://www.calculatorsoup.com/calculators/algebra/percentage-increase-calculator.php The answer: 1520% increase. So your argument is this: a 64% increase in the average tariff rate in 1922 didn't cause an immediate recession; hence, a 1520% tariff increase in 2025 is nothing to worry about. Color me unconvinced.

I don't know who is feeding you these links (I suspect it's one of your Twitter feeds), but it would do you good to actually read the cited article before reposting an unrepresentative clip from it. I spotted this right away because CATO - a libertarian think tank - would never suggest tariffs are benign. Do you know by what percentage Trump's tariffs increased the average tariff rate? I'll give you some time to look it up. EDIT: Time's up. https://taxfoundation.org/research/all/federal/trump-tariffs-trade-war/

I don't think "rabidness of support" means what you think it means.

And just wait till they're "adjusted" up in the upcoming months. (isn't that what the MAGAs always say happens?)

Steve Rattner this morning: - Strip out the effects of Trump's tariffs (mostly increased beat-the-tariffs import activity) and GDP GREW by about 2 percent on an annualized basis in Q1. - So Q1 was, indeed, the continuation of "the Biden Economy" - sustained growth, low unemployment, decreasing inflation. Trump blew that up with anticipated tariffs, and then actual imposition of tariffs (which happened in early April, Q2). His analysis is obviously correct.

What exactly has the Germ Theory of Disease given us? Time to return to the turgid miasma theory. MAHA!! Has anyone investigated whether the environmental degradation of fracking causes measles? Because the Texas/New Mexico maps show a pretty strong correlation between fracking activity and measles cases. Get on it, RFK! Editorial comment: what a frickin idiot.

Proves what was pretty obvious. Goldberg said that it wasn't the first time Waltz had texted him. Waltz was providing info to Goldberg for a long time, trying to cultivate his reputation as a serious thinker on national security matters. This is the true reveal: most of those Trumpies who excoriate the MSM have a pretty good familiarity with MSM reporters who they selectively leak to in order to improve their public standing.

You are too kind. I can't really take credit for that one.

Not speculating about this accident, but its kind of common knowledge in Denver that Elway is a big drinker. Maybe too big.

https://www.duckhuntingchat.com/threads/tasty-juicy-goose-burgers.305513/

We did that in Denver. "Culled" the geese and ground them up into gooseburgers. I'm sure that's a lot more expensive than the Michigan plan, plus I never saw ground goosemeat in grocery stores. At a minimum wouldn't it make great pet food?

Now this is the kind of legislative gamesmanship MAGA voted for. Drain the swamp, unless it's our swamp, in which case please let it fill and become even more mosquito infested. Will that fit on a T shirt? A ball cap?

Tariffs also create something else economists hate: trying to game the system. Companies spending lots of time and money to try to minimize their impact like this: https://viewfromthewing.com/delta-beats-trumps-tariffs-new-airbus-jets-arriving-duty-free/ Delta's Airbus orders would be subject to a 10% tariff. So they take delivery of them in Japan and technically base them overseas so they are not taxed.

It looks likely that the next quarter will be negative too. So we're now to the point of whether it will be a minor dip/technical recession or whether the momentum will multiply.

Great story, thanks. Vibrational physics or whatever they call it. I had a college friend who went to grad school to study this. I guess you never understand why anyone needs it until you need it!