Are Trump’s Tariffs About Strategy or Retreat?

Are Trump’s Tariffs About Strategy or Retreat?

The term “trade war” has always sounded dramatic — almost too dramatic for what many hoped would be a technical dispute over economic leverage. But wars, whether military or monetary, are rarely clean, and they often end differently than they began. The latest developments in the Trump administration’s tariff policy — particularly the sharp reversal on China — are proof of that. At the start of this saga, the White House levied tariffs on virtua…

Turning Trump’s tariff pause into trading prosperity

Americans’ retirement funds are swinging like a carnival ride as the markets try to anticipate how President Donald Trump’s tariff moves will affect global trade. His 90-day pause on tariffs has provided some relief as everyone tries to d...

Money & Macro — I was wrong about Trump's tariff masterplan

In this follow-up, I revisit the idea that Trump’s chaotic tariff policies may actually follow a strategic pattern — but with a crucial update. My earlier analysis missed three key factors that, once included, help explain the logic behind even the most bizarre trade moves. From tariffs on penguin-inhabited islands to erratic shifts in policy, things start to make more sense when you factor in the internal power struggle among MAGA economists co…