Quote:
Originally Posted by Clocker
As I have said many times, overall Trump is certainly preferable to Hillary. While I do make fun of his quirks, my serious criticism of Trump is based on his ignorance of economics in general and trade in particular. No one here has ever even tried to present an informed rebuttal to my criticism, or to the expert opinions I have cited from both side of the political aisle about those issues.
The standard response to any criticism of his very damaging trade policy is, yeah, but MAGA.
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You really believe Trump is ignorant of economics and trade? How pompous of you. He graduated from the prestigious Wharton School (U of Penn) of business with a degree in economics. He built a worldwide empire on a million dollar gift from daddy. I don't know your background Clocker, but I too graduated with a degree in economics, and I think Trump has a pretty good handle on economics and trade. Maybe what you need to do is read less political opinion articles disguised as business opinion articles. One thing an economics degree teaches is that there are MANY ways to get to there from here. Just because Trump may be unorthodox in his methods and bombastic in his demeanor (your real problem with him), doesn't make him wrong.
My take? I believe Trump is quite aware that he is negotiating from a position of weakness with China. If you know you have a weak hand, you sometimes need to up the ante to create more risk to the other side. No one knows the future fully, even if you believe you do. He is changing the landscape under which we are operating in order to effect a meaningful change in our trade imbalance. Trump is escalating with China in an attempt to get them to concede some points to reduce the risk factor to themselves. That is simple business and economic concepts. It really is the art of the negotiation. I've been in many negotiations, and I can tell you that if the other side does not perceive any risk to themselves, there is no negotiation.
