BTRTN: The Ugliest American...How the Tariff Catastrophe Plays Out, and What it Means for the Long Term
Born To Run The Numbers offers its hunch on how Trump extricates himself from his current tariff-cluster-tariff-catastrophe... and an assessment of what damage he has done to the rest of us, and what’s to be done about it.
https://borntorunthenumbers.com/2025/04/09/btrtn-the-ugliest-americanhow-the-tariff-catastrophe-plays-out-and-what-it-means-for-the-long-term/
Excerpts: "Let’s say the DJIA continues to gasp for oxygen and sits, unmoved, at its current ten percent loss. Within the confines of the Oval Office, the palpable anxiety of Purple district Republicans, the increasing vocal unrest of business titans, and China’s unwillingness to yield finally sinks in. So what will Donald Trump do? His tired old act is becoming very predictable. He will call a press conference and declare victory... His press conference will continue, an exercise in bloviation and prevarication, and he... will therefore conclude that because the tariffs worked so well, they are no longer necessary...
"Perhaps the world will then indeed step back from the brink of the economic slaughterhouse that Donald Trump single-handedly caused, and — fingers crossed — the markets will recover...
"What’s not so certain is whether the relationships between nations built literally over centuries will ever recover from Trump’s carnage. Relationships forged in the flames of wars fought to save nations from extinction. Relationships formed in alliances to save mankind from existential threat. These relationships may never return to what we had built in 250 years of being a force for good...
"Two novels with similar titles – The Quiet American, by Graham Greene, and The Ugly American, by Burdick and Lederer – were both written about the American experience in Southeast Asia leading up to the Vietnam war. Both books posit that arrogance, hubris, and presumptions of superiority blinded the American officials who were sent there on diplomatic and intelligence operations. Together, the books serve to make an important point: when this country acts as if the world is ours to dominate, when it believes our ideas should be imposed on others, and when we have used our muscle to force others to conform to our views, we often end up in ignominious retreat, licking our wounds, and vowing to be smarter next time...