Trump promised voters tariffs are a panacea for the economy, but Walmart finance chief John David Rainey warned they will be inflationary for customers.
By removing dirt-cheap goods from the market, this could make it more difficult to ignore the underlying problem: People are not being paid enough for their labor to afford the things they need at home. Instead, they are expected to depend on subsidized/sketchy foreign manufacturing, while corporations and the super-rich are being allowed to extract a disproportionate share of the world’s wealth from everyone else, hoard it, buy favorable legislation and policies, and avoid paying their fair share in taxes. This is already unsustainable; tariffs will make it more obvious.
(I don’t imagine this is why Trump wants tariffs, but perhaps he’ll accidentally place the straw that breaks the camel’s back, leading lawmakers to face either reform or revolution. Unfortunately, I think it’s likely to make things worse for the rest of us before it makes things better.)
One possible silver lining:
By removing dirt-cheap goods from the market, this could make it more difficult to ignore the underlying problem: People are not being paid enough for their labor to afford the things they need at home. Instead, they are expected to depend on subsidized/sketchy foreign manufacturing, while corporations and the super-rich are being allowed to extract a disproportionate share of the world’s wealth from everyone else, hoard it, buy favorable legislation and policies, and avoid paying their fair share in taxes. This is already unsustainable; tariffs will make it more obvious.
(I don’t imagine this is why Trump wants tariffs, but perhaps he’ll accidentally place the straw that breaks the camel’s back, leading lawmakers to face either reform or revolution. Unfortunately, I think it’s likely to make things worse for the rest of us before it makes things better.)