Commentary
I know. I know. I haven’t written since my last edition, “I’m Not a Fiduciary, But I Am Invested in Your Best Interests,” on April 5. It followed my pieces on tariffs and Trump’s negotiation tactics on the previous two days.
Writer’s block? Not exactly. It’s the country’s rapidly changing financial overview, day by day, even hour by hour. Just as I would put down my thoughts, changes from the White House or the Stock Exchange called for a rewrite. It has happened over and over since April 5.
Today, rather than mimic breaking news, I’ve decided to merely give you my observations on a few things I’ve noted.
As I watched the market regain nearly what it lost over the past week and a record one day gain, I am reminded of the negative views presented in the headlines prior to it, all while I was advising patience and calm.
“Voters Sour on Trump’s Economic Plans”
“Market signals are warning the White House of trouble ahead.”
“Tariffs causing fears of recession.”
As one might expect, liberal Wall Street Journal columnist William A. Galston, remarked, “The president governs by fear,“ while quoting Machiavelli, “It is best to be both feared and loved, but if one must choose, it is safer to be feared.”
Even Maria Bartiromo, on Fox Business News, while offering an optimistic perspective before Monday’s market opening, couldn’t help but float the potential that the president’s tariffs might lead to a recession.
Then, after the market bounce back, caused by President Trump’s putting a pause in place as more than 70 countries sought negotiations, Trump noted that they were getting the “yips,” a golf term referring to a nervous tension developed while putting.
Despite his bold action to level the playing field, ignored by past presidents, including the Bushes, the media continues to preach normalcy as they criticized him. Despite his commonsense action, the media choose to negatively report on it, accusing him of “backtracking,” and “blinking,” while voicing “recession fears.”
With the failure of Build Back Better and Bidenomics, Jared Bernstein, Biden’s economic advisor (a college music major), went on MSNBC’s Morning Joe to cite Trump’s move as “some of the worst diplomacy I’ve ever seen,” likening it to” burning down the house.”
Meanwhile, Janet Yellen, Biden’s pathetic treasury secretary, had the audacity to describe Trump’s move as “the worst self-inflicted wound that I’ve ever seen an administration impose on a well-functioning economy.”
But Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who spent the last two months laying the intellectual groundwork for the Trump trade doctrine of enlightened economic nationalism, debunked the pause, saying it was not surrender, but leverage.
And John Carney, Breitbart economics editor, saw Trump’s pause, not as a retreat, but instead a redirection. “The president pulled off a flash launch, turning a tariff-induced selloff into a strategic masterstroke.” Further, Carney wrote that “tariffs could even bring us to something closer to genuinely free trade.”
Larry Summers, who has held treasury and economic advisor positions with the Clinton and Obama administrations, has often made predictions he wished he hadn’t made. He warned that Trump’s tariffs might spark a “serious financial crisis.”
In view of the negative coverage of Trump’s tariff doctrine, I wasn’t surprised to see 52 percent likely voters in a Rasmussen Reports survey disapprove of it, while just 43 percent approve. Sixty-four percent consider it likely that his policy will cause a major recession.
As I prepare to publish this long-delayed edition, I notice that all three indexes posted gains from last Friday’s close. The S&P 500 and the Dow noted their largest weekly percentage gains since November 2023, while the Nasdaq registered its biggest weekly percentage advance since November 2022.
For my pessimistic friend, who prefers not to be disappointed as optimists often are, I hope he was at least patient through the whiplash event of the week.
May God continue to bless the United States of America.
