On Wednesday, President Trump declared that it was “Liberation Day.” He said this is our economic Declaration of Independence now.
The markets were rocked after the announcement and there’s a reason why, which I will explain.
The president seems to believe that international trade is a zero-sum game. His giant tariff policy is predicated on a few false notions about the American economy. One is that the American economy has been a giant failure for the last 40 years. That is simply not true. This is a myth that is propagated by both parties.
I know, it’s a fun myth. It’s something people like to believe, that yesterday was economically better than today.
But then you look at all the stuff around you, the phone in your pocket, the computer, the fact that you can literally order any product at any time from anywhere on earth and it arrives at your doorstep in two days at a price…