I think this YT video by Del Stone Jr. summarizes the current political environment of the USA well – Why aren’t Americans protesting?
Is USA’s debt sustainable?
Exclusive: Mary Meeker’s warning for “USA Inc.”: this is actually unrelated to the recent Elon Musk’s DOGE effort, despite the URL implies here.
Tariffs
(Fox Business) Warren Buffett says tariffs are an economic ‘act of war’: ‘Tooth Fairy doesn’t pay ’em’
Tariffs have businesses bracing for change in Trump country : NPR
(Atlantic) Trump’s Most Inexplicable Decision Yet – The tariffs are real, and they are spectacularly foolish. By Rogé Karma
YT: Fresh from Stacy Park, Yours Truly, morning of 3/6/2025 (if you know mandarin and wanted to hear my morning rants, you are warned 🙂
用简单的中文来说，关税这个东西基本上是杀敌500，自伤/杀500 – 两败俱伤。
YT BNN Bloomberg: The biggest misstep Trump made with tariffs: Rosenberg
NPR: Did tariffs contribute to the Great Depression? Here’s what to know
How Canadians are fighting back against Trump’s tariffs | CNN || This is the Canadian website btw.
My comments: do you know why Canada and China are acting stronger in this trade war? Because they are not necessarily in the weaker positions, they used to be in. For example, China diversified export destinations. For Canada: it seems the US is relying heavily on Canada’s energy (oil, uranium and electricity), at the same time Canadians don’t have to buy US boos (alcohols). And when you think about the auto industry integration between Canada, Mexico and USA, this has been going on for decades. And Trump is only giving them one month of reprieve. It’s a joke when you (or any other rational person) think about it.
Apple will spend more than $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years (my comment: $500 b is a big number, even spread over 4 years, but read the fine print. It seems to me it’s mostly good PR to avoid tariff for iPhone etc.)
PS:
Some more rational analyses and coping even thriving in the new far right US regime
My new year resolution: reduce screen time on iPhone and social media
(Vox) Trump’s lawyers just made a $2 billion mistake – Trump’s attack on USAID hits a snag because of a stupid mistake by his legal team. || In other words, I think democrats who had/have hope on the judicial systems mainly courts to Trump’s agenda, probably should set their expectations low or realistic.
My thought: I was thinking how many unfortunate people in Africa (or other poor counties) may die because of Trump decided to suddenly pull the aid via USAID. Then I realized how many innocent people in Iraq may have died because of the unnecessary war started by George W Bush. I think the Ukraine war is similar. The Law of the Jungle (森林法則) is being applied here, especially since the collapse of former USSR.
Center Right => Far Right
Once, when I was working for Mastercard quite a few years ago, I talked to a colleague in Brazil, and we talked about politics (don’t’ go there), and I said Brazil is starting to lean right, and he commented: yeah, our “leaning right” politicians are probably like Barack Obama 🙂
The point here is that the USA was a center right country, and now it’s turning to far right (as I said my blog post above): white supremacy, male dominance, male dominated society, Misogyny and Homophobia so on. I grew up in a society that had a lot of similar problems, when I looked back. I realized it when I was reading this Time.com article – Her Small Business Helps Disabled Kids Learn. USAID Cuts Have Pushed It Toward Bankruptcy.
(03-10-2025) Yes, Trump said, ‘They rigged the election, and I became president’ (Snopes) || My comment: I think Trump was probably saying that the Democrats rigged year 2020 election (note this is not confirmed, as Trump lost 64 out of 65 court cases challenging year 2020 election results). And he was re-elected again in year 2024.