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Trump’s ‘Revenge Tax’ Is A Duck
John Thune needs to think long and hard about whether Senate Republicans want to line up behind the
If 899 applies to equities, then consider the relative size of US vs foreign markets and how a small reallocation from former to latter can affect market caps in said latter. Foreigners hold 25% of US equity markets.
https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/sb0124
If foreign investors boycott US investments then Trump’s rich buddies can scoop up US assets at significant discounts.
Perhaps. But what good are US assets with depressed prices? Buying the dip is only good if the dip doesn’t last. Besides, before the “dip” the rich guys have better prices tan they are going to have after the dip. Dumpster diving isn’t all that popular for the rich.
For now, I’m going to file this one in the same folder as 125% tariffs. They seemed too stupid to suggest, let alone actually deploy, but here we are. He’ll seemingly do anything for a good word or a bag of cash dropped through the night slot at the Presidential Library, but the prospect of obtaining wieldable leverage is as libidinal as the Muzak coursing through Bergdorf Goodman’s dressing rooms.
Any reassurances from this Administration and its various mouthpieces that Team Trump is on top of all the implications and ramifications of any such proposals and that we are, in fact, lucky to be beholding yet another manifestation of 4-D deliberate ambiguity, are laughable. (See also his Mad Libs Tariff Board, (4 * 1/4 =1), Gitmo and CECOT). But much like Project 2025 which Trump claimed he never even heard of until the press started asking him about it, H is right that the 899 language isn’t in there as some sort of well-considered and anodyne placeholder. To me, it’s too competent by half to be dismissed as incompetent. They’ll say it’s a Nothingburger until someone pays enough to actually remove it, or, if not, it stays to either be wielded or used as a chip.
Everything Trump touches turns into a toll booth, in either direction, and whether he is slowing things down or speeding them up. Repeal or restrict, start or stop, and don’t even think of switching lanes or he’ll primary you or sic the DOJ on you. The Democratic party is still catching on, but the rest of the world seems to have gotten hip to the notion that Trump’s the poster boy for bad faith. You can choose to avoid him or stand your ground if you can, but if not, it’s usually not difficult to give him an expedient dose of bad faith back and get on with the signing. But there’s no point in showing up in old habits — informed with a set of tangible goals and objectives and ready to hammer out a substantive and lasting agenda.
And my personal fear, that amid all this dominance and dealmaking, we are getting played, not just by Trump’s personally enriching venality at our expense, but also other countries playing Trump, whether he realizes it or not.
Excellent graphic. Your prompting skills must be top notch!
Thank you for the simplicity of the “sticky” metaphor, it helps get the big picture across for me.
Could this be used against State pension systems, etc.?