Trump / Musk (other than DOGE) Omnibus Thread

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nycfan said:
(Continued)

"...Stephen Miran, whom Trump has tapped to lead the Council of Economic Advisers, is arguably a more interesting case. Back in November he wrote “A User’s Guide to Restructuring the Global Trading System,” which might qualify as a manifesto if it were intelligible. My sense, however, is that reporters like the Wall Street Journal’s Greg Ip writing about the document have struggled to make sense of what Miran is saying.

I, however, don’t find Miran puzzling at all, thanks to my long experience as (among other things) an economics professor at MIT, Princeton and CUNY. You see, I recognize the genre. Most years, at least one student tries to BS his way through the term paper requirement by producing something with a bunch of learned-sounding references and some gratuitous equations, hoping that you won’t notice the absence of any coherent argument.

And when I say lack of coherence I don’t mean that I disagree; I mean that the document simply doesn’t hang together. Part 3 makes the case for tariffs by arguing that they won’t be inflationary because they’ll lead to a stronger dollar, reducing import prices. Part 4 then calls for an all-out effort to weaken the dollar, using emergency powers if necessary.

Oh, and Miran’s plan for weakening the dollar involves pressuring foreign governments to stop accumulating dollar reserves — in effect, diminishing the role of the dollar as a reserve currency. (That wouldn’t work, but never mind.) Let’s hope nobody tells Trump, who has threatened to impose punitive tariffs on any country that dares move away from the dollar.

OK, I’m probably spending too much time on Miran, who is unlikely to have real policy influence. But then who will?

Which brings me back to my starting point: the incoming administration doesn’t seem to have any economic plan. But the ultimate reason for that absence is fear: everyone is afraid to say anything that might be taken as an implicit contradiction or criticism of Trump’s rantings. ..."
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Your bolded part reminds me of Trump’s tariff plan which will simultaneously 1) solve our budget woes and pay for child care and everything else under the sun because we will collect so much money from the tariffs, and 2) will force Americans to buy American and force companies to relocate manufacturing to America to avoid the tariffs.
 
Geisterfahrer said:
Humor us with some dumb patient questions , perhaps in a new thread “Dumb shit my patients/clients/customers said to me because of social media brain rot”.
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Not sure if it's because of social media, but I can provide some examples.

The ones I really like are when the person includes a screenshot with the answer to their question.
 
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WaynetheDrain said:
Does Trump know what the word “independence” means? He’s not helping his cause here.
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Probably not, at least in this context. He really is that dumb, and has proven it over and over again on social media. And at least half the country simply doesn't care, or even adores him for his blowhard stupidity. We really are living in the dumbest timeline.
 
I would bet that the nominees at risk are Kennedy and Tulsi...having been Democrats (at least nominally) is already two strikes for many GOP senators.
 
CRHeel94 said:
I would bet that the nominees at risk are Kennedy and Tulsi...having been Democrats (at least nominally) is already two strikes for many GOP senators.
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I'll be shocked if any of Trump's nominees are seriously challenged. Gaetz, who is in the bottom 0.000000001% of Americans from a morality perspective, was the scapegoat.
 
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