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Donald Trump Has a Third Grade Understanding of Trade [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-04-04
The more I hear Donald Trump talk about these tariffs and why he thinks they are necessary the more it’s clear he does not know what trade means from an economic standpoint. The word is used differently among economists when talking world level macro than it is among friends or sports teams owners. Our first understanding of the word trade is to give my toy truck to you and get your candy bar or something. A simple exchange of one item for one you desire instead. The monetary value of said things may be nowhere comparable but it’s about the subjective value to each person at the time that drives the “trade”. Economists are talking about exchanging of goods/services produced by markets in different countries and it’s always for money. When you listen to Trump complaining about being “ripped off “and using things like our trade deficits with other countries as the metric to determine his tariff levels it has to be because he views the notion of trade like this; If I buy cars from you for a million dollars and you keep that million dollars and don’t turn around and spend it back to me and buy something I’m producing you are ripping me off, because you holding those dollars adds to my national debt, its putting us in the negative in trade balance and that can’t go on. That’s the only logic he can be using….. and that is sooooo ignorant !! When I buy something from you its a joint venture that both are willingly doing because they both see a benefit. One wants money for something they produced the other has money and wants the real good or service for the money…. its an even trade. Nothing else needs to happen but Trump (and all the others squawking about our trade deficits) really think that to make it right and make us great, those “dollar holders” need to spend those dollars back to us and buy something of ours or else we are out of balance. Its like they think them holding those dollars is affecting our economy. No its not but idiots who fret about it and overreact and start trade wars are affecting our economy.
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