Tag: Economic Games

Flash: Inflation Has Been Beat!

At least that is what we are being told by the man with the plan….the problem is when I shop I do not see any relief…..how about you?

Could it be dementia creeping in?

… polls show widespread anxiety over the cost of living—and as some within Trump’s own party question whether he’s focused enough on those concerns.

Trump insists his administration is turning things around. “We inherited a total mess from the Biden administration,” he said this week. “The Democrats caused the affordability problem, and we’re the ones that are fixing it.” Last week, he called the affordability issue a “con job” pushed by Democrats. A New York Times analysis sees Trump as being in essentially the same position as then-President Biden early last year: “Telling the American people that they are doing great, when many don’t feel that way.”

Trump asserts that inflation is “essentially gone” and says the outlook will keep improving as the effects of his tariffs take hold. But year-over-year inflation is actually up slightly, and prices have only increased since the president declared “Liberation Day” in April thanks to his tariffs, and promised that relief was on the way, per the AP. A new Politico poll found that 46% of Americans—including more than a third of Trump voters—say the cost of living is the worst they’ve ever seen.

How long is this tool going blame Biden?  He has had 11 months and if he4 is such a goddamn financial genius he should have solved these problems months ago.

And why does his sycophants refuse to release economic data for all of us peons to see just where the problems are?

If you believe inflation has been beat then please pass on just where it is happening.

Sorry I do not see anything he has said on this subject as accurate…..but that is just me.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Employment Numbers Look Good, Right?

WE always seeing the figures put out by the government on employment, jobs created, and so forth…..but are those numbers just a mask for what is really happening?

A low unemployment rate typically signals that an economy is generally healthy. The unemployment rate in the U.S. remained near a 50-year-low in April 2025 at 4.2% — plus, American employers added 177,000 jobs in April despite the uncertainty of Trump’s tariffs and trade wars.

This all sounds good, right? Not so fast.

The “true” rate of unemployment in April, according to the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity (LISEP), was 24.3%, up 0.03% from the previous month. LISEP’s True Rate of Unemployment (TRU) includes the unemployed, as well as workers who are employed but still struggling.

“We are facing a job market where nearly one-in-four workers are functionally unemployed, and current trends show little sign of improvement,” said LISEP Chair Gene Ludwig in a statement published on PR Newswire.

“The harsh reality is that far too many Americans are still struggling to make ends meet, and absent an influx of dependable, good-paying jobs, the economic opportunity gap will widen.”

That could help explain why, despite the supposedly healthy employment rate, consumer confidence in the American economy has been plunging.

So, why is there a 20-point difference between the LISEP and Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) unemployment numbers? The BLS collects a massive amount of data on unemployment, but some of that data is excluded from the official unemployment rate.

For example, BLS found that 5.7 million people who aren’t employed do, in fact, want a job — but they weren’t counted as unemployed because “they were not actively looking for work during the four weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job,” according to BLS.

LISEP uses data compiled by BLS, but instead of simply measuring unemployment, LISEP measures what it calls the “functionally unemployed.” This is defined as the portion of the U.S. labor force that “does not have a full-time job (35+ hours a week) but wants one, has no job, or does not earn a living wage, conservatively pegged at $25,000 annually before taxes.”

Its metrics capture not only unemployed workers, but also those stuck in poverty-wage jobs and those working part-time but can’t get full-time work. LISEP’s measurements aim to include these functionally unemployed Americans to provide a more complete picture of unemployment across the country, including the nuances that other economic indicators miss.

This, in turn, can help “provide policymakers and the public with a more transparent view of the economic situation of all Americans, particularly low- and middle-income households, compared with misleading headline statistics,” according to LISEP.

“Amid an already uncertain economic outlook, the rise in functional unemployment is a concerning development,” Ludwig said. “This uncertainty comes at a price, and unfortunately, the low- and middle-income wage earners ultimately end up paying the bill.”

Ludwig says the public would be “well served by a commitment from economic policymakers to adopt a stable course of action” based on real-world metrics.

(moneywise.com)

We also are hearing how well the economy is doing….but all that is smoke and mirrors as well….as any person can tell you that has to shop that their wallet does not see this ‘bright’ economy.

Just thought you might like to know….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Tariffs–Blowing Smoke

Since January there has been daily updates on the tariffs that Donny has imposed on the world….it is a Duncan yo-yo….up and down….a pause and then strong condemnation and then another pause….I see China got another pause in tariffs….where are all those countries scrambling to do a deal?

To me it is more about stock manipulation and the markets than it is about punishing whoever has offended Little Donny….

But you decide….

Donald Trump’s words and actions rarely align perfectly. If you watch carefully, what he doesn’t say can be just as telling as what he does.

“Starting on day one, we will end inflation and make America affordable again, to bring down the prices of all goods,” he told the nation ahead of his re-election. The US president declared that 2 April would “forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn”, only to pause tariffs a week later.

He promised peace in Ukraine on day one of his presidency, only to later clarify this was “said in jest”; and he has claimed very few people can beat him at golf, only for footage from Scotland to raise questions over just how honest that round might be.

As a real estate mogul, reality TV star and political campaigner, Trump learned to bend narrative to his will, even if it meant straying from reality.

As president, this often leaves a gap between what he says and what he does. In many cases, the administration’s actions are more important to follow than the firehose of words.

If you were, say, a US business buying coffee from Brazil, you might have rushed to import it last week after Trump insisted 1 August was the cast-iron deadline for new tariffs. “It stands strong, and will not be extended,” he wrote on Wednesday – hours before signing an executive order that said new steep tariffs on the country would come into force on 8 August, after all.

And if you’re a US consumer, you might reasonably ask how inflation can be “dead”, as the White House has claimed, if you’re still shelling out more on groceries each month.

The president has an awful lot to say about tariffs. They will, he argues, raise “trillions” of dollars for the US federal government; eliminate trade deficits with other countries; and even punish Brazil for putting his ally the former president Jair Bolsonaro on trial for allegedly seeking to seize power after losing the 2022 presidential election. The list goes on.

But what about what the president doesn’t say?

And if you’re a US consumer, you might reasonably ask how inflation can be “dead”, as the White House has claimed, if you’re still shelling out more on groceries each month.

The president has an awful lot to say about tariffs. They will, he argues, raise “trillions” of dollars for the US federal government; eliminate trade deficits with other countries; and even punish Brazil for putting his ally the former president Jair Bolsonaro on trial for allegedly seeking to seize power after losing the 2022 presidential election. The list goes on.

But what about what the president doesn’t say?

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/05/donald-trump-tariffs

Donny has struck a few trade deals….nothing like what was promised but give him credit for the deals he has concluded….like with Japn and the UK….

By its own reckoning, the Trump administration has now inked “the largest trade deal in American history”—twice. On July 22, it announced a deal with Japan, with the promise of $550 billion in direct investment in the United States. Shortly after came the European Union trade deal, which the administration hailed as “historic structural reforms.”

All this fanfare over record-breaking trade deals brings to mind the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which, in its time, was on track to be the globe’s largest free trade pact before President Donald Trump abandoned it in 2017. TPP partners represented 40 percent of all U.S. trade, and unlike today’s skeletal agreements, we had the details. In fact, we had 30 chapters of them, covering everything from intellectual property to tariffs to e-commerce.

In contrast, the Japan deal that Trump claims to have struck is more puzzle than promise. The White House fact sheet on the new deal claims, “Japan will invest $550 billion directed by the United States to rebuild and expand core American industries,” and that 90 percent of the return from investment would go to the United States. However, this language veers in a different direction from the Japanese cabinet release, which says “Japan will enable government-affiliated financial institutions to provide up to $550 billion in capital contributions, loans, and loan guarantees.” Council on Foreign Relations Senior Fellow Brad Setser has called the investment pledge “vaporware.”

The E.U. deal is, if anything, even thinner on details, with European negotiators rushing to clarify it was only a preliminary framework—political, provisional, and definitely not legally binding.

It didn’t have to be this way. The Trump administration claims its tariffs are drawing countries to the table for tough negotiations. Yet in 2016, TPP partners were already there, ready to sign an agreement that closely reflected U.S. trade standards and practices, having overcome significant domestic hurdles. The TPP’s multilateral negotiating framework actually provided an efficient mechanism for participating countries to modernize their existing bilateral free trade agreements, and it augmented less comprehensive pacts like NAFTA and the Korea-U.S. agreement (KORUS).

https://reason.com/2025/08/07/the-art-of-the-empty-trade-deal/

It is all smoke and mirrors and the faithful eat it up as somehow a breakthrough in trade….

So far I have not seen the ‘breakthrough’…..yes these sanctions has brought in some cash but at what price?

You as the consumer is paying the price….can you get that through that tiny mind?

After 6+ months the only thing he has accomplished was stealing more of your hard earned cash….congrats!  You asked for it, you got it!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Tariffs To The Left….Tariffs To The Right

Since our boy Donny has taken office he has imposed tariffs on most of the world….from an island populated by penguins to the nation of China, which has tariffs already of about 145%….all because Donny wants to punish China for its one sided trade with the US.

Consumers are started to see prices increase as these tariffs start taking effect.  But just how badly is these policies hurting the Chinese economy?

China’s economy has shown strong growth in the first half of 2025, growing by 5.3 percent despite ongoing trade tensions with the United States. The growth rate has exceeded Beijing’s targets, showing the resilience of the world’s second-largest economy.

According to The Washington Post, the impressive economic performance comes as Chinese manufacturers have increased their exports during a temporary pause in the trade war. This surge in exports has been a key factor in supporting China’s economic growth, as both customers and producers took advantage of the trade war ceasefire.

Trump’s decision to increase tariffs to 145 percent in April has proven ineffective in slowing China’s economic progress, while American consumers face significantly higher prices on everyday goods due to these tariff policies. The Chinese economy has defied Washington’s expectations, weathering the trade war better than many U.S. officials had predicted.

Following the May truce that helped ease trade tensions, negotiators from both countries are now working to transform the temporary agreement into a permanent trade deal, though Trump has already made significant concessions to China in previous negotiations. The deadline for these negotiations has been set for mid-August.

https://wegotthiscovered.com/news/trumps-145-tariffs-prove-useless-as-chinas-booming-economy-defies-washingtons-dire-predictions/

So these extreme tariffs are hurting nobody but the consumer….was that the plan all along?

What Donny and his ‘expert’ panel of morons overlooked is China is a member of the BRICS and as such have a built in trading partners.

BRICS is short for the countries that make up the economic bloc that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and some say South Africa.

I have said all along since the very beginning that these tariffs are not going to save anything on the contrary it will cost the consumer heavily in an economy that does not need more pressure of the consumer.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Those Yo-Yo Trade Policies

One day there are up the next they are down…..is it to give his, being Trump, Fat Cat buddies a chance to make more money?

It appears so to me.

Donny’s newest threat was against Apple…..

President Trump’s latest tariff threat is directed at Apple—he is threatening a 25% penalty unless the company starts making iPhones in the US, reports NBC News. Most are currently made in China, though CNBC notes that the company has been recently moving some production to India.

  • “I have long ago informed Tim Cook of Apple that I expect their iPhone’s that will be sold in the United States of America will be manufactured and built in the United States, not India, or anyplace else,” Trump wrote Friday on Truth Social. “If that is not the case, a Tariff of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the U.S. Thank your for your attention to this matter!”
  • EU, too: Trump also threatened to impose a 50% tariff on the European Union, one of the nation’s largest trading partners, per the Wall Street Journal. He faulted their “powerful Trade Barriers, Vat Taxes, ridiculous Corporate Penalties, Non-Monetary Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits” against US companies.
  • Markets: Dow futures were down more than 600 points on the combined threats. Apple shares fell about 3%.

Apple’s drop effected the entire market….

US stocks fell Friday after President Trump threatened 50% tariffs on the European Union that could begin in a little more than a week.

  • The Dow dropped 256.02 points, or 0.6%, to 41,603.07, off 2.5% for the week.
  • The S&P 500 declined 39.19 points, or 0.7%, to 5,802.82, finishing the week down 2.6%.
  • The Nasdaq fell 188.53 points, or 1%, to 18,737.21, down 2.5% for the week.

Trump threatened the tariffs before the US stock market opened, saying on his Truth Social platform that trade talks with the EU “were going nowhere” and that “straight 50%” tariffs could go into effect on June 1.

Stocks fell immediately in Europe, the AP reports. The US market also took a quick turn lower, and futures for US stock indexes tumbled after earlier suggesting only modest moves at the open of trading. The S&P 500 lost as much as 1.3% shortly after trading began, but it pared its loss as traders weighed whether Trump’s latest threats were just negotiating tactics aimed in hopes of getting a deal or something more. Apple dropped 3% and was the heaviest weight on the S&P 500 after Trump went after the company specifically. He said he’s been pushing Apple to move production of iPhones to the US, and he warned a tariff “of at least 25% must be paid by Apple to the US” if it doesn’t.

I have thought from the beginning that these tariffs were a game that Donny is playing and the more he employs these yo-yo economic policies the more I am convinced that these tariffs are put in place to benefit him sand his Fat Cat thugs…..those people that care NOTHING for this nation and its people as long as they can continue to play the system for their benefit.

Does anyone see this as ‘making America great again’?

If so please define why.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

And The Game Continues

Here we go again….playing with people’s lives….again.

Our dear Clueless Leader is playing a horrible game of tariffs, pauses and exemptions….all in the name of his buddies making billions upon billions off of stock manipulations.

Lately the markets were sluggish so Donny pauses the auto tariffs for now….give the robber barons time enough for some transactions and the making of billions.

President Trump suggested Monday that he might temporarily exempt the auto industry from tariffs he previously imposed on the sector to give carmakers time to adjust their supply chains. “I’m looking at something to help some of the car companies with it,” Trump told reporters gathered in the Oval Office. He said automakers needed time to relocate production from Canada, Mexico, and other places. “And they need a little bit of time because they’re going to make them here, but they need a little bit of time. So I’m talking about things like that.”

  • The statement hinted at yet another round of reversals on tariffs as Trump’s onslaught of import taxes has panicked financial markets and raised deep concerns from Wall Street economists about a possible recession, the AP reports.
  • When Trump announced the 25% auto tariffs on March 27, he described them as “permanent.” His hard lines on trade, however, have become increasingly blurred as he has sought to limit the possible economic and political blowback from his policies. “I don’t change my mind, but I’m flexible,” he said Monday.
  • Detroit’s Big Three automakers have been lobbying the White House for weeks to have some low-cost car parts excluded from tariffs, Bloomberg reports. Ford, GM, and Stellantis have told the administration they are willing to pay tariffs on imports of finished vehicles and large parts like engines, but import taxes on other parts would drive up costs by billions of dollars and lead to layoffs.
  • Stocks in the Big Three jumped after Trump’s remarks, the AP reports. General Motors rose 3.6%, Ford rose 4.1%, and Stellantis rose 5.1%. The companies have complex supply chains and production processes that cross borders several times within North America.
  • he tariffs on finished vehicles took effect April 3, with tariffs on parts expected May 3. Officials in Canada say that since some parts go back and forth across the border multiple times, the Trump administration hasn’t figured out a formula for the parts tariffs yet, Global News reports.

Seriously?

The “stable genius” is playing an infantile game and making extra cash for the rich sycophants…..if it is so good then how much did you make off these games?

When all this silliness is gone can the economic outlook be repaired?

Watching the wild lines of the S&P 500, U.S. Treasury bond yields, and various foreign markets is how I’ve spent most of the past week. This felt familiar; I’d spent much of 2017 doing the same, following the vagaries of the first Trump administration and tracking the markets’ reactions like a nurse checking a patient’s heart rate.

But despite that familiarity, this isn’t the same as last time. I actually wish it were. This time, there’s no coming back from this quickly. Whoever is elected the 48th president won’t be able to easily rebuild what Donald Trump is busy destroying. Countries can and will move on without the United States. Their firms will establish new supply chains and pursue other markets. Even if the U.S. were the ultra-dominant trading partner it used to be, the credibility of the nation’s promises, its treaties, its agreements, and even its basic rationality has evaporated in just weeks.

The Us after this debacle of ignorance may never be the economic anchor of the world that it has enjoyed for so many decades.

And we owe it all to the idiot  Donny and his minions of doom that he lets run the country and the economy.

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”