Summary
Trump had to reverse his aggressive tariff rhetoric after CEOs from Walmart, Target, and Home Depot warned of empty shelves and higher prices due to supply chain disruptions.
Investors reacted negatively to his threats against Fed Chair Jerome Powell, prompting a market sell-off.
Trump backtracked, expressing optimism on a China trade deal and now denying plans to fire Powell.
Global markets remain volatile, and the IMF cited Trump’s trade war as a “major negative shock” to global growth.
As an inside observer, I assure you that there is nothing funny about it whatsoever.
As an adjacent observer(Canada, and we have our own idiots) it’s kinda funny. The US has had so much time and so many resources to not being the shithole it is today and they just couldn’t bring themselves, as a country, to get there. Other countries have done way better with less so we know it’s possible.
So, as much as it is also scary, awful, and just plain garbage, it is a little funny as well.
Well, as it turns out, America’s status as an economic juggernaut has always been dependent on keeping our occupied territory as shitholes that are terrible for the people who live there, so we can exploit their labor and resources. We learned well from the British Empire. The shitholeness is just being turned against a larger swath of our population now.
Good point. Poor choice of words. It’s not funny haha or even funny peculiar. It’s just fucked up.