[conspire] Today in Trump cult stupidity (kills your 401ks goodbye)
Ivan Sergio Borgonovo
mail at webthatworks.it
Thu Apr 3 10:44:57 PDT 2025
It is hard to believe that among all the people that had the luck to
grow up in a rich family you're governed by the dumbest ones and that
all the other rich people sponsored them for the lulz.
I mean, surely they don't know anymore what competition and selection
are, screened by their money, but don't get fooled.
All the richest people have become even more rich during the first days
of Trump administration.
These people can make instantaneous surveys on what people think and
influence them and the chances they will get poorer are very slim if you
think they are just a bunch of greedy assholes.
And if they aren't going to get poorer, the one getting poorer is you
and Trump is not the stupidest.
Oh BTW eggs market in US is in the hands of a monopolist... once they
will reach $20, Trump will promise some deregulation and magically they
will "drop" to $15.
Still high? Well but as promised "he" lowered the price ;)
The egg market will be less regulated and you'll still pay $10 dollars
more than last year... a win win for the monopolist, Trump and for "free
unregulated market".
On 4/3/25 7:33 AM, Rick Moen wrote:
>
> Thread on Xitter: Turns out, the "reciprocal tarrifs" are not on any
> rational basis, just trade deficit -- and this blunder was not even
> one Trump's team of third-rate dumbasses conjured up themselves,
> It appears they outsourced the entire matter to ChatGPT, and then
> didn't even fix the output, let alone think about it.
>
> https://xcancel.com/wwwojtekk/status/1907580634974884311
>
> It really, really is that stupid.
>
> 1. Trump does not understand what a trade deficit is.
> https://www.reddit.com/r/neoliberal/comments/1jq2viv/trumps_list_of_tarrifs_that_countries_were/
> 2. The trade deficits he's worked up about won't get closed, because
> the other countries are rather likely to boycott the US on principle.
> 3. A lot of Trump's numbers are just wacky and wrong, too.
> https://paulkrugman.substack.com/p/trump-goes-crazy-on-trade/
> 4. The so-called "reciprocal tariffs" basically punish trade. The more
> trade you do with the US, the more you're punished. Countries like Iran
> that do little US trade get relatively rewarded.
> 5. And yes, there is some evidence that Trump's third-raters couldn't
> even be bothered to make their own blunders, but rather outsourced the
> job to ChatGPT and did no checking or editing.
>
>
>
>
>
> Wojtek Kopczuk @wwwojtekk
> 4h
> Confirmed, chatgpt... exactly what the dumbest kid in the class would
> do, without edits
>
> ChatGPT (was queried): What would be an easy way to calculate the
> tariffs that should be imposed on other countries so that the US is
> on even-playing fields when it comes to trade deficit? Set
> minimum at 10%
>
> Answer:
>
> Calculating tariffs to balance the trade deficit is a complex
> economic problem and cannot be accurately reduced to a simple formula.
> However, if we are looking for a basic approach, one way to
> conceptualize it is by considering the trade deficit between the US and
> a trading partner.
>
> Simplified approach:
>
> 1. Calculate Trade Deficit Ratio:
>
> Trade Deficit with Country
> Trade Deficit Ratio = ---------------------------
> Total Trade with Country
>
> 1. Tariff Calculation:
>
> Tariff = max(10%, Trade Deficit Ratio x 100%)
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Destiny | Steven Bonnell II @TheOmniLiberal
> 6h
> I think they asked ChatGPT to calculate the tariffs from other
> countries, which is why the tariffs make absolutely no fucking sense.
>
> They're simply dividing the trade deficit we have with a country with
> our imports from that country, or using 10%, whichever is greater.
>
>
>
>
>
> Hellenic Koraki @_h0nk_h0nk_
> 1h
> Replying to @wwwojtekk
> Read Oren Cass
> Apr 3, 2025 · 2:27 AM UTC
>
>
>
>
>
> Ammar Farooq
> @ammar_farooq
> 3h
> Replying to @wwwojtekk
> Was done by the CEA apparently
>
>
> Scott Lincicome @scottlincicome
> 4h
> WH has now confirmed: this is insane
>
> https://nypost.com/2025/04/02/us-news/trump-slaps-at-least-10-tariffs-on-all-imports-in-declaration-of-economic-independence-half-of-what-they-could-be/
>
> The specific "reciprocal" tariff rate was half of the current
> trade imbalance because "the president is lenient and he wants
> to be kind to the world", a Trump aide told reporters.
>
> "The numbers [for tariffs by country] have been calculated by the
> Council of Economic Advisors based on the concept that the trade
> deficit that we have with any given country is the sum of all
> trade practices, the sum of all cheating", a White House official
> said, calling it "the most fair thing in the world".
>
>
>
>
>
> Wade Zhou @wade_zhou
> 4h
> Replying to @wwwojtekk
> $20 says they actually chatgpt'd this one
> Apr 3, 2025 · 12:11 AM UTC
>
>
>
>
> Bennett Bernard @BennettBernard7
> 4h
> Replying to @wwwojtekk
> So the “reciprocal” tariffs are really reciprocal because we’ve applied
> them inverted?
> Apr 3, 2025 · 12:24 AM UTC
>
>
> Cutvin @Cutvin
> 3h
> Replying to @BennettBernard7 @wwwojtekk
> No. The calculation of the "tariff" being applied by the other nations
> is just false. It is beginning with the assumption that the bilateral
> deficit is because unfair trade practices, and so offsetting these
> imagined unfair practices.
> Apr 3, 2025 · 12:55 AM UTC
>
>
>
>
> Bennett Bernard @BennettBernard7
> 3h
> Replying to @Cutvin @wwwojtekk
> Right. It’s not a calculation of a “tariff” at all. But it hurts ones
> that engage in more trade.
> Apr 3, 2025 · 12:59 AM UTC
>
>
>
> Cutvin @Cutvin
> 3h
> Replying to @BennettBernard7 @wwwojtekk
> Thing is, in Trump's mind "bilateral trade" matters. To economists, it
> does not, because all trade is multilateral. Krugman wrote about this.
> Apr 3, 2025 · 1:00 AM UTC
>
>
>
> Daniel @itsmedanielfc
> 2h
> Replying to @Cutvin @BennettBernard7 @wwwojtekk
> It's akin to you being mad at the supermarket because you have a deficit
> with them. And then your company being mad at you because they have a
> deficit with you.
> Apr 3, 2025 · 1:57 AM UTC
>
>
>
>
> Jeremy Chrysler @jeremychrysler
> 4h
> Replying to @wwwojtekk
> I suspect his is also why countries like Iran, which we basically do not
> trade with, gets off so easily.
> No trade = no trade deficit!
>
> Ken Gardner @KenGardner11
> 5h
> Iran got the special "only 10%" tariff. Israeli, who eliminated all
> tariffs for US goods a few days ago, got the 17% tariff.
>
> Make it make sense.
> Apr 2, 2025 · 10:48 PM UTC
>
>
>
>
> baroness @navium_exuro
> 5h
> Replying to @KenGardner11
> I can't. I'm sorry.
> Apr 2, 2025 · 10:48 PM UTC
>
>
>
>
> Fascist Russian Asset @SamanthaPfaff
> 5h
> Replying to @KenGardner11
> You can't make sense of what an insane person does.
> Apr 2, 2025 · 10:53 PM UTC
>
>
>
> Ken Gardner @KenGardner11
> 5h
> Replying to @DastDn
> Yep. A lot of people have now figured out the secret sauce, and it is as
> incredibly dumb as you can imagine.
> Apr 2, 2025 · 10:54 PM UTC
>
>
>
>
> RRice @drFoxcroft
> 2h
> Replying to @KenGardner11
> His rates aren't reciprocal, nor based on their tariffs. He's basing
> them on trade deficit. He believes trade deficits mean they're
> "cheating"
>
> (tradeDeficit/totalImported)/2
>
> Israel.
> ($7.4B trade deficit / $22.2B total imported from Israel)/2 = 17%
> tariff
>
> Which is insane.
> Apr 3, 2025 · 2:26 AM UTC
>
>
>
>
> Ken Gardner @KenGardner11
> 57m
> Replying to @drFoxcroft
> Agreed.
> Apr 3, 2025 · 3:40 AM UTC
>
>
>
>
> Paul Rizzo @PaulRiz504
> 3h
> Replying to @wwwojtekk
> Fucking 2 trillion wiped off equity markets because they asked AI what
> to do......
> Apr 3, 2025 · 1:05 AM UTC
>
>
>
> Andrew @Hootnanny9
> 3h
> Replying to @wwwojtekk
> This would explain why Heard Island gets 10%, it’s a barren landscape
> with zero population, but a territory of Australia.
>
> Surprised they didn’t carve up Antartica.
> Apr 3, 2025 · 12:58 AM UTC
>
>
>
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--
Ivan Sergio Borgonovo
https://www.webthatworks.it https://www.borgonovo.net
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