These days he is a billionaire and major donor to the Trump campaign and Republican Party.
He is, like all the rest of us looking on, incredulous, or furious, or in disbelief, or confused.
Yesterday for a very brief period, a rumour that appeared to come out of a very small 'X' account and somehow linked to CNBC, swept the market.
It said Trump was considering a 90-day pause on the tariffs. The market which had been continuing its downward trajectory, or “tanking” as some people called it, abruptly upped stick and reversed.
It surged by about 8%, which is a lot, until it turned out none of it was true. So it fell apart again.
As one article suggested, that was an off-ramp for the President. In other words, had the rumour been true and Trump decided it could all be a mistake, the markets would have forgiven him, put it all behind them and we would be on our merry way.
But back to Ken. Ken said "I don’t understand the goddamn formula". In that, he is not alone.
Many of the billionaires who backed Trump don't understand the formula. They also didn’t back the idea that Trump would trash the place and yet more of them, mainly headed by the bloke who runs BlackRock, think the US economy is already in recession.
If it is in recession Howard Lutnick will need to be rolled out to explain how that happened, given according to Lutnick, it wasn’t possible.
So once again we ask the simple question – if the brightest people in the room don’t understand the "goddamn formula", if Trump's closest allies and supporters don’t get it, who does?
Or worse, is it possible no one does? Is this thing a runaway train?
If it's not a runaway train, is it possible that yet another Trump backer is right when he suggests America is now a global laughing stock?
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
8 comments:
I expect whoever buys gold has a fair understanding of the formula. The way US has gone it is hard to imagine it managing a major war. In WW2 its manufacturing ability triumphed, even providing the USSR (most of their trucks). But now its capacity is minor cf China, even India etc.
Meanwhile former CEO of Trade Depot, Bob Nardelli says the Knee jerk response to the Trump tariffs is a complete over reaction. Who to believe Mike? Certainly not the MSM of which you are a part. The tariffs need to be worked through, it is simply a recalibration of the world financial order. It is pretty obvious there will be many unhappy players at present. Just as a resolution to the Ukraine conflict won't happen overnight. Luxon needs to get onside with the US. Send a strong delegation over.....forget the "Te Reo" for a while. Work in the best interests of all New Zealanders or quit.
I read an interesting article yesterday by a man called Ray Dalio. He said the scale of the problem the US faces around Debt has reached a tipping point. Trump's actions are not the cause of the real problem.
Not sure what to make of the whole tariff matter. Diametrically opposed views and at a guess a lot of the negative comments and scenario's are false. We will see
Correction to comment. Home Depot not Trade Depot.
Not a laughing stock. The situation is too grim for laughter.
More like a bitter recalibration of relationships and how we regard America and Americans.
It used to be said that Canadians are just like Americans. Now it’s said they still are, but with intelligence, integrity and considerably better manners.
For sure, no-one understands “the goddam formula”. That’s because everyone is looking for a reason. There is none.
When a US Senator demanded to know why Australia (an important security/military partner and a country with which the US enjoys a trade SURPLUS) had been whacked with a 10% tariff - the US Trade Representative replied that Trump needed to rebalance the US global trade deficit!
So that’s the “goddam formula” right there: Because the US spends more on imports than it exports, everyone has to suffer to correct the global deficit - even those where the US has a trade surplus.
If no-one owns up, the whole class will stay in after school.
Republican Logic 101. Not a laughing stock. It’s too grim for that.
Trump is giving the appearance of a man with a plan, the reality is very different.
There are simply way too many variables coming into play to have any idea what’s going on.
One thing is clear, American power and influence will be degraded substantially after this , making America not so great again
Not much intelligence in that headline Mike , do you really think that USA does not collate all media garbage . No help to our foreign affairs and trade delegations when negotiating for a minion nation.
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