‘Willing sycophants’ came up with simplistic formula that has thrown global economy into disarray

cross-posted from: https://beehaw.org/post/19241243

Waving a big chart as a prop in the White House Rose Garden, Donald Trump suggested his new tariff plan was simple: “Reciprocal – that means they do it to us, and we do it to them. Very simple. Can’t get simpler than that.”

Perhaps a bit too simple. The method used to calculate the most important numbers in international trade, politics and economics has left some of the world’s leading experts shocked.

For each country, the White House looked up its trade in goods deficit for 2024, then divided that by the total value of imports. Trump, to be “kind”, said he would, however, offer a discount, so halved that figure. The calculation was even distilled into a formula.

  • pleasegoaway@lemm.ee
    363·
    2 months ago

    The trump regime was designed to TANK the US economy so that stocks, businesses, and industries can be bought by billionaires at rock bottom prices.

    All is going according to plan.

    • SeaJ@lemm.ee
      11·
      2 months ago

      It is kind of seeming like this. Anyone who has a ton of cash on hand can get amazing deals on assets. Trump has said as much.

    • Drusas@fedia.io
      5·
      2 months ago

      They are also designed to give Trump leverage over companies and countries.

      • Omega_Man@lemmy.world
        1·
        2 months ago

        Kind of like punching your neighbor in the face, shooting yourself in the foot, then begging your neighbor for help.

    • Initiateofthevoid@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      42·
      2 months ago

      This is nonsense that gets spread way too often. The wealthy benefited from Covid, but they did not benefit from the Great Depression. Billionaires are shortsighted hoarders who can’t help but screw themselves over in their race to the top end. They really are so fucking stupid and greedy that they will crash the economy by accident, AGAIN.

  • magnetosphere@fedia.io
    32·
    2 months ago

    The economists are only “stunned” because they’re used to dealing with logic, reason, and numbers that make sense. You have to throw those things out the window when dealing with Mango Mussolini, folks!

  • TowardsTheFuture@lemmy.zipEnglish
    20·
    2 months ago

    Republicans have been confidently and fully wrong about economics for like a hundred years now dude, a republican making up economic bullshit that will hurt the American people should not be a surprise.

    • Albbi@lemmy.ca
      1·
      2 months ago

      Trump probably couldn’t even figure out how to stalemate or win every tic-tac-toe game.

  • FlyingCircus@lemmy.world
    10·
    2 months ago

    The reason the numbers are idiotic is because they don’t need to make sense. There is no point to these tariffs other than to crash the US economy so that fat cat rich scum can buy everything and create corporate feudalism.

  • Optional@lemmy.world
    10·
    2 months ago

    ‘Willing sycophants’ came up with simplistic formula that has thrown global economy into disarray

    Way to shoot us in the crotch republiQans and eligible non-voters! You suck!

  • barneypiccolo@lemm.eeEnglish
    9·
    2 months ago

    He absolutely believes he’s a genius who has thought of this solution to our economic problems that NOBODY else has ever considered, because nobody is as smart as he is. All this talk of how wrong it is only proves to him how much smarter he is. His tariffs are so innovative, even the most intelligent economists don’t get it.

    But he does, because he’s the most intelligent human to ever exist, and he is thinking way above them.

  • PurpleTentacle@lemmy.world
    9·
    2 months ago

    The only thing that surprised me about the idiotic numbers was that they weren’t overwritten by even dumber ones in sharpie.

  • Freshparsnip@lemm.eeEnglish
    9·
    2 months ago

    That’s what happens when you let an unqualified lunatic make decisions about things he doesn’t understand