The only shocking thing about the Trump Crash is that it took this long
About the last thing that I claim to be is any kind of economics guru. When I read about and think about the topic, these days, which I don’t do much of, it’s behavioral economics. So the only thing I have to say about what will happen with the economy going forward is that anyone who claims to know all the particulars of that is very likely “full of it.”
Hindsight is a different matter. A great many of us knew that a crash – not a “soft landing,“ but something really serious – was coming, the moment we got past our initial horror and denial at Trump “winning.” There has always been a major economic bust, sooner or later, when a Republican gets into the White House, during my lifetime (beg. 1961). It was also guaranteed because Trump himself is not only massively personality-disordered, but also as god-damned pathetically stupid as it’s possible for anyone to be. His tariff wars, deregulation, and corporate giveaways are what got us here.
Basically, two things provided fuel for the rich man’s vast kennel of whimpering, groveling propagandist curs to continuously proclaim the alleged glories of the “Trump economy:” the stock market and the U3 unemployment rate. It’s become very clear, just how flimsy that perch was. If it hadn’t been COVID-19, it would have been something else.
I find it useful to distinguish between what I simply call the “real” and the “fake” economies. The real economy is the one most people live in: constant job insecurity, low pay, massive debt, overwork. The fake economy is the parasites, especially in Big Finance, bloated and frenziedly sucking, like the contemptible leeches that they are, off those who do the real work. And it’s the parasites’ interests that are constantly being boosted by policymakers of both parties.
How does that get changed, in the short term? Certainly you start by doing what you can to get progressives elected, but, beyond that, I wish I knew. And I know I have plenty of company, there.
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