USA Economics - Protectionist Waste Management down 2pc

New American economics thread

would love to post here but need to spend the afternoon reviving beatles threads in order to make up for the current deficit

calstars just woke up, maybe we can see what he thinks about futures for imported beer

how bout that american economy yall

previous thread from the 2008 crash:
Rolling US Economy Into The Shitbin Thread

USA: "hold my beer"

line go down

if you were in australia then line go up, makes u think 🤔

maaaate

that's a bloody outrage it is

I have had it up to here waiting for the US economics thread to get rebooted!

lol markets were up bigly this morning and took like a 2000 point swing to the negative by close

no one has any idea what going on or why theyre doing what theyre doing

we did it

idk shit about the market but the upticks right now are the admin trying to hold things up with twigs and bubblegum until the investors see through it and down she goes

Surely you can leak a story every morning about how tariffs are being clawed back and then say "nuh-uh" in the afternoon and the stock market will stay even forever.

lol markets were up bigly this morning and took like a 2000 point swing to the negative by close

Brokers clocking in saying to each other, "Surely he'll have given up on this insane bullshit, right?" Then realization that no, insane bullshit is pretty much his only mode now, and... down, down, down we go.

Public Image Ltd. Album Titles appropriate for the moment:

This is what you want…this is what you get
Happy?
The greatest hits, so far

I think it was the doubling down on China that punctured whatever hope helium there was. Or that plus just everyone trying to guess where the bottom's gonna be.

I alone can fix it.

cool thanks

Sorry, that was supposed to read “AI alone can fix it.”

damn

that's what you get for asking chatgpt to make yr posts ;)

I can call you Betty, and Betty when you call me you can call AI

Mr Krasnov, tear down that wall!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNrQOUtXYOo

I think it was the doubling down on China that punctured whatever hope helium there was. Or that plus just everyone trying to guess where the bottom's gonna be.

― paper plans (tipsy mothra)

we're in portland. we're _all_ in portland.

please send tops. don't worry about that hope helium, we're all _very_ good at blowing.

lol

Trump claims tariffs bringing in $2bn a day for US
Donald Trump has been speaking as he signed executive orders from the White House.

Trump claimed that the US is making $2bn a day from tariffs. He did not provide any details.

“The tariffs are on and money is pouring in at a level we’ve never seen,” he said.

“America is going to be very rich again very soon,” he said.

What can you even say...

“America is going to be very rich again very soon,” he said.

with U.S. taxpayers' money

I was just thinking if he was referring to people paying taxes which include higher capital gains in 2024 and more babby boomer RMDs

What can you even say...

― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, April 8, 2025 4:03 PM (ten minutes ago) bookmarkflaglink

Thread for Screaming Into the Void

Here is more details on who might be making that money.

https://rajivsethi.substack.com/p/engineered-volatility

^^^

"buying the dip" but on AI steroids

An economic lesson from er, Ronald Reagan, tweeted by er, Chinese embassy US account.

Ronald Reagan vs. #tariffs : 1987 speech finds new relevance in 2025pic.twitter.com/CuAMw1eQXN

— Chinese Embassy in US (@ChineseEmbinUS) April 7, 2025

as one does

William Huo, Intel’s first rep in Beijing: “America got conned by its own elite. And now we’ve got the privilege of importing our own poverty in shiny containers labeled “Made in China. When a politician promises to bring back American manufacturing with tariffs, ask them: who’s going to rebuild the ecosystem Wall Street torched three decades ago? Tariffs won’t fix decades of deindustrialization driven by elite consensus. Only massive, consistent investment in R&D, education, and infrastructure ever could. But first we have to say the quiet part out loud: America was deindustrialized not by China or Mexico, but by its own ruling class chasing yield.”

Yep.. anything to get away from paying a living wage to American workers

on the other hand we got cheap tvs have you seen these things its like $300 for a big flat screen tv

theyre quasi disposable

my (much-older) cousin runs a small music store in a small CA town, and as much as he'd love to have his walls lined with shinty Fender, Martin & Gibson guitars, he just can't really afford to, so he orders guitars from Korea, China & Indonesia. He's shown me a few and I have to admit they seem pretty well constructed, probably using a lot of computer-assisted machinery. They're not 'rough' like we think of Japanese & Italian guitars from the 60's. And they actually sell, because he's not really selling to pros but to people just starting out.. same with brass & woodwinds

theyre quasi disposable

the alleys of Oakland are littered with them, I can attest

This passage from Bob Woodward's book Fear shows just how fucked we are:

Of course the United States manufactured things, but the reality did not match the vision in Trump’s mind. The president clung to an outdated view of America — locomotives, factories with huge smokestacks, workers busy on assembly lines. [Gary] Cohn assembled every piece of economic data available to show that American workers did not aspire to work in assembly factories...

Mr. President, can I show this to you?” Cohn fanned out the pages of data in front of the president.

“See, the biggest leavers of jobs — people leaving voluntarily — was from manufacturing.”

“I don’t get it,” Trump said.

Cohn tried to explain: “I can sit in a nice office with air conditioning and a desk, or stand on my feet eight hours a day. Which one would you do for the same pay?”

Cohn added, “people don’t want to stand in front of a 2,000 degree blast furnace. People don’t want to go into coal mines and get black lung. For the same dollars or equal dollars, they’re going to choose something else.”

Trump wasn’t buying it.

Several times Cohn just asked the president, “why do you have these views?”

“I just do,” Trump replied. “I’ve had these views for 30 years.”

“That doesn’t mean they’re right,” Cohn said. “I had the view for 15 years I could play professional football. It doesn’t mean I was right.”

He really believes his insane bullshit, and no one can convince him otherwise.

far from the worst thing during this cursed time but can i just say that i’ve really been disliking seeing scott bessent’s stupid smug face

Cohn’s mistake was referring to other people, who don’t exist to Trump. Should have asked him do YOU want to shovel coal eight hours a day

People might actually take factory jobs over service industry/LVN/etc. jobs if they existed and the pay was decent, the idea that the two options are "blast furnace" or "incredibly easy e-mail job" isn't real life.

So many not-blast furnace trades jobs (HVAC tech, plumber who gets called out at midnight when the shitter is backed up, etc.) are a) highly demanding of overtime and b) now actually sales jobs because staying employed and making a living wage depends on upselling the person whose AC you're fixing in the middle of August.

From the old thread, ShariVari sez

Lots of angry chuds out there trying to Gamergate the fake, woke, feminised economy (in this specific case, a viral TikTok video from Australia they are all still mad about a year later).

And I was like wha? Like, doing office work is for women? Then why were they excluded from it, in living memory?

And lo, yes there are people saying things like this.

https://wapo.st/42nDYfR

Rotimi Adeoye

Like the Chinese Cultural Revolution, it glorifies physical labor as moral purification, only now the purification is from the supposed “wokeness” of desk work, filtered through TikTok, X and Twitch. It’s not about creating jobs. It’s about creating vibes: strong men doing hard things, reshared until they become ideology. As one MAGA influencer put it, “Men in America don’t need therapy. Men in America need tariffs and DOGE. The fake email jobs will disappear.”

pretty optimistic assuming we'll survive another 3 months

I have tickets for concerts in September and November that I really wanna see, so I'm invested in the future!

Hell we just yesterday put down payments to be part of a parade in New Orleans next February, that's how bullish I am.

My current employment contract expires in three weeks. That's how far into the future I can see.

Assuming some of Stereolab's lyrics will hit harder in October.

it's a real problem that this is perpetually the case

I'm still a "Stereolab predicted 9/11" truther

Yeah, I'm either optimistic or dumb enough to have just bought tickets for a show in late September.

I figure the more shows you can buy in advance now the less immediate angst you'd face on waiting and then wondering if you have the cash for it closer to the time. Which sounds flippant but isn't meant to be!

Man I bought a National Symphony subscription into June 2026 I hope DC isn’t a smoking crater then.

So if c. the US election the economy looked great on paper, but didn't feel good for so many people, will the inverse hold true in the near future? That the economy will look bad on paper, but many of those same people will insist it's good?

yes

Consumer confidence is in the toilet and we haven't even been hit by tariff inflation yet.

Looks like the only economies with negative growth, out of those announced today, are the USA and Hungary. Fascism doesn't work, folks.

lol

Shipping from Asia to the US expected to drop 35% next week...

Reuters link

The Los Angeles port is expecting a 35% drop in cargo from Asia next week, Gene Seroka, the port's executive director, said in a CNBC interview on Tuesday.

"It's a precipitous drop in volume with a number of major American retailers stopping all shipments from China based on the tariffs," Seroka said.

Major American retailers have now stopped all shipments from China and that contributes to around 45% of traffic in Los Angeles, he said.

Seroka said that until some accord or framework is reached with China, the volume coming out of the country, except for some commodities, would be very light at best.

Fascism doesn't work, folks.

Fascism doesn't work on behalf of ordinary people. But it works as it is intended to work: to exert maximum control over ordinary people.

Ah yes

https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:z6rujpf4u56jfie7aqic2nfg/bafkreifly4zukbggjiazrbjz4pzmspbfh32tcy5imqvk7sy2yu7tdemeve@jpeg

https://theonion.com/trump-informs-nation-they-better-start-liking-those-little-canned-wieners/

corn husk dolls making a comeback

One of the first inductees to the Toy Hall of Fame was: stick

https://www.museumofplay.org/toys/stick/

this sucks for the employees but you kinda wonder if they're just using this all as an excuse

The United Parcel Service (UPS) is expected to cut about 20,000 jobs in 2025 as a part of a larger plan to reduce costs and increase profit, citing “changes in the global trade policy and new or increased tariffs”.

UPS announced the layoffs on Tuesday in its first quarter earnings report. The parcel delivery service said it made consolidated revenues of $21.5bn, compared with $21.7bn about the same time a year ago. Additionally, the company said it would be shuttering 73 leased and owned buildings by the end of June of this year.

it's mostly a convenient excuse to shift responsibility elsewhere for something they were planning to do soon anyway

yeah, exactly.. like how tech layoffs happen in waves, due to the 'changing landscape'.. sometimes it's cutting jobs that weren't even filled, so they can show shareholders they're trimming the fat
Not sure if that's the case here

$21.5 billion vs $21.7 billion doesn't really seem like a dramatic change in fortunes

UPS announced some of those layoffs months ago because of changes to their Amazon deal I think.

Yeah it was in the works for months … they want to add value for their shareholders

Spooked by Trade Wars, Trump Officials Hoard Supplies: ‘It Would Be Stupid Not To!’

https://www.axios.com/2025/05/01/xbox-price-increase-trump-tariffs-microsoft

First time I've ever seen a four year old video game console becoming an appreciating asset.

What is it with these people and toilet paper?

they're full of shit

They think bidets make you gay.

fuck joe bidet he was the wors woke ass fiol

Bloomberg interview with the executive director of the Port of Los Angeles. We are fucked.

https://bsky.app/profile/paleofuture.bsky.social/post/3loetuvp7gk2q

YouTube link for those disinclined to click through to Bluesky:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PdGzwetSLaE

A response to the Port of LA director interview:

I spent 17 years pulling freight off the L.A. docks and brokering intermodal freight. It’s VERY bad. Especially for dock workers, truck drivers, and any company (and their employees) getting raw materials from China. And all those people have debts.

The Port guy also cited CA central valley agra-business, where the basic inputs like fertilizer are going to be in shortage and also far more costly.

In some ways the business press are the only journalists willing to spell out Trump's disastrous policies. Just wait, if the mass deportations become reality instead of ugly threats to cow immigrant workers, then the business world is going to raise another big stink. Trump's hardcore base won't care, but independents and legacy Chamber of Commerce Republicans are going to cry foul. As the saying goes, a hit dog yelps.

the port of LA is such a slick tv sports presence that I assumed he's basically full of shit but this guy I follow who looks like hank from breaking bad says he's legit

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=43VMteILGOI

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration still has not engaged in trade negotiations with China, contradicting previous claims from President Donald Trump that the U.S. is talking to Beijing about tariffs.

"China we have not engaged in negotiations with as of yet," Bessent told the House Appropriations Committee at a May 6 hearing.

Some groyper interns called the big guy up and put on comedy Asian accents

the port of LA is such a slick tv sports presence that I assumed he's basically full of shit but this guy I follow who looks like hank from breaking bad says he's legit

sorry, I'm seeing Hector here

https://www.cnbc.com/amp/2025/05/06/trump-tariffs-trade-canada-china.html

After weeks of touting how many countries were asking for bilateral trade talks with the United States, the president and his team have yet to announce any formal agreements or frameworks.

"I wish they'd ... stop asking, how many deals are you signing this week?" said Trump, clearly frustrated at the mounting pressure on the White House to show progress on trade talks. "Because one day we'll come and we'll give you 100 deals," he said.

[...] Trump blamed top aides like Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for overpromising trade deals.

Needs a little Vito Corleone fluorish in there: "Because one day--and that day may never come--we'll come and we'll give you 100 deals."

Trump blamed top aides like Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick for overpromising trade deals

??? Didn't Trump himself tell Time magazine that he'd already made 200 deals?

You have to understand, I'm dealing with all the companies, very friendly countries. We're meeting with China. We're doing fine with everybody. But ultimately, I've made all the deals.

Not one has been announced yet. When are you going to announce them?

I’ve made 200 deals.

You’ve made 200 deals?

100%.

https://www.google.com/search?q=number+of+countires+in+the+wqorld

you don't even need to spell it right to figure it out

I am a fact checker for the Washington Post and give Trump’s statement one “oopsiedaisy” since I think Trump needs the benefit of the doubt