1 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:09,400 Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. 2 00:00:17,040 --> 00:00:20,200 Speaker 2: Hi Stephanie Flanders here with a bonus episode of our 3 00:00:20,280 --> 00:00:24,040 Speaker 2: Botonomics series, because well, we just couldn't resist. It's a 4 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:26,200 Speaker 2: good one, and who knows, if you enjoy it, there 5 00:00:26,280 --> 00:00:29,000 Speaker 2: might be more to come. In this vein the focus 6 00:00:29,080 --> 00:00:32,599 Speaker 2: is trumpnomics, the economic world of Donald Trump, how he's 7 00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:35,360 Speaker 2: already shaped the global economy, and what on earth is 8 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:38,080 Speaker 2: going to happen next. To help me tackle this subject, 9 00:00:38,159 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 2: I've recruited two of Bloomberg's finest, each with a unique 10 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:45,360 Speaker 2: perspective on Donald Trump. Anna Wong, chief US economists for 11 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:49,000 Speaker 2: Bloomberg Economics, and Josh Green, a national correspondent at Bloomberg 12 00:00:49,040 --> 00:00:53,760 Speaker 2: BusinessWeek based in DC who covers politics. Enjoy unless you've 13 00:00:53,760 --> 00:00:56,160 Speaker 2: been living in a very deep forest with bad WiFi. 14 00:00:56,240 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 2: You'll have noticed that investors have responded pretty favorably to 15 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:03,520 Speaker 2: the reelection of Donald Trump. Stocks her up, so's the dollar, 16 00:01:04,160 --> 00:01:08,720 Speaker 2: Tesla stock, Bitcoin is way up. In general, You'd have 17 00:01:08,760 --> 00:01:12,039 Speaker 2: to say Wall Street seems to think that Trump two 18 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:14,880 Speaker 2: point zero will be good for them, good for capitalists. 19 00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:16,640 Speaker 2: But at the same time you have a long line 20 00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:19,960 Speaker 2: of economists, sometimes working for the same Wall Street institutions 21 00:01:20,000 --> 00:01:24,400 Speaker 2: telling us that Trump's economic policies, if implemented as advertised, 22 00:01:24,560 --> 00:01:28,039 Speaker 2: the stuff he promised on the stump, about tariffs on 23 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:33,400 Speaker 2: all imports and mass deportations of illegal immigrants, all all 24 00:01:33,440 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 2: those things will raise inflation, slow growth, and stoke uncertainty, 25 00:01:38,720 --> 00:01:42,520 Speaker 2: which investors are supposed to hate. So I quite like 26 00:01:42,600 --> 00:01:46,600 Speaker 2: to tease out whether there's a contradiction between some of 27 00:01:46,640 --> 00:01:50,520 Speaker 2: those beliefs. Helping me with that is Anna Wong, Chief 28 00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:54,200 Speaker 2: US Economists for Bloomberg Economics. Before that, she's worked at 29 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:57,240 Speaker 2: the Federal Reserve Board, and while she was at the FED, 30 00:01:57,480 --> 00:02:00,680 Speaker 2: she served in the Trump White House and twenty nineteen 31 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 2: twenty twenty on sircumment at the Council of Economic Advisors. 32 00:02:04,840 --> 00:02:07,120 Speaker 2: She's also worked at the US Treasury. We also have 33 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:12,400 Speaker 2: Josh Green, national correspondent at Bloomberg BusinessWeek, author of several books, 34 00:02:12,480 --> 00:02:16,120 Speaker 2: including I Guess, most relevantly for this purpose, the number 35 00:02:16,200 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 2: one New York Times bestseller Devil's Bargain, Steve Bannon, Donald Trump, 36 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:24,800 Speaker 2: and The Storming of the Presidency. Anna I mentioned those 37 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:28,640 Speaker 2: two beliefs often held by the same person. Trump's economic 38 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:34,040 Speaker 2: policies would raise inflation, slow growth, stoke uncertainty, but somehow 39 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 2: he's still going to be phenomenally good for US investors 40 00:02:37,800 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 2: and companies. Am I right? There is a bit of 41 00:02:40,440 --> 00:02:41,320 Speaker 2: a contradiction there. 42 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:44,600 Speaker 1: I think Wall Street economist and Wall Street traders are 43 00:02:44,880 --> 00:02:49,040 Speaker 1: two different animals. So a lot of traders are very practical. 44 00:02:49,400 --> 00:02:52,360 Speaker 1: So they're basing their bets, pouring all the money and 45 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:57,480 Speaker 1: stocks right now on the experience from the first Trump administration, 46 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 1: And if you looked at the stock performance at that period, indeed, 47 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,480 Speaker 1: it was quite phenomenal. So the S and P five 48 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:11,080 Speaker 1: hundred rose fifty five percent from late twenty sixteen to 49 00:03:11,400 --> 00:03:14,640 Speaker 1: the end of twenty nineteen. Now, in terms of the 50 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:19,440 Speaker 1: tension created by Donald Trump's threats on tariffs, indeed, it's 51 00:03:19,480 --> 00:03:23,400 Speaker 1: true that I think it's now well documented that every 52 00:03:23,480 --> 00:03:27,840 Speaker 1: time Trump tweets a threat on tariff, the stock market falls. 53 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:31,640 Speaker 1: And if you add up all these tweets in his 54 00:03:31,760 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 1: first administration and looked at the cumulative stock decrease due 55 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: to his tweets, you actually would find that his tweets 56 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:45,800 Speaker 1: are responsible for about ten percent lower stock market value. 57 00:03:45,920 --> 00:03:47,400 Speaker 2: Now that is news you can use. 58 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: I like that stat We actually did this when I 59 00:03:49,960 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 1: was at the CEA. In fact, that was one of 60 00:03:52,400 --> 00:03:57,960 Speaker 1: the study we undertook to document what has the impact 61 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:02,920 Speaker 1: of all this tariff announcement. Overall? Stock markets still increased 62 00:04:02,960 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 1: by fifty five percent, but it could have increased by 63 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:09,000 Speaker 1: sixty five percent. So I guess in that sense there 64 00:04:09,080 --> 00:04:12,360 Speaker 1: is some tension, but I think the traders are still 65 00:04:12,360 --> 00:04:16,080 Speaker 1: thinking that on net it will be positive. But let's 66 00:04:16,160 --> 00:04:18,520 Speaker 1: keep in mind that in the first Trump administration, a 67 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: lot of the stock market increase was due to the 68 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:25,760 Speaker 1: tax cuts in TICCHA, and at that time that was 69 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:29,520 Speaker 1: clearly a big reform in the text code. So corporate 70 00:04:29,680 --> 00:04:31,719 Speaker 1: tax rate fall from you know, in the thirties to 71 00:04:32,320 --> 00:04:35,840 Speaker 1: the twenties, and that is a very sizable increase that 72 00:04:36,000 --> 00:04:38,039 Speaker 1: they're not going to be able to replicate. 73 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:40,039 Speaker 2: No, I guess the big thing we're talking about in 74 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:42,839 Speaker 2: that front is just to prevent those text cuts from expiring, 75 00:04:42,839 --> 00:04:44,800 Speaker 2: which you would have thought could not possibly have the 76 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:46,760 Speaker 2: same kind of impact exactly. 77 00:04:46,839 --> 00:04:49,440 Speaker 1: So I think in one calculus they have to think 78 00:04:49,440 --> 00:04:52,920 Speaker 1: about this time around, is well, suppose that all these 79 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:57,159 Speaker 1: trade drama knock down, you know, ten to fifteen percent 80 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,400 Speaker 1: of the stock market will a boost from the other 81 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:04,120 Speaker 1: policies be able to more than offset that. I would 82 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:07,240 Speaker 1: argue that right now, the stock market is already their 83 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:12,159 Speaker 1: valuations are already very rich, and there's less upside, but 84 00:05:12,760 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 1: just more downside. But you know, I'm not equity a strategy. 85 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:20,839 Speaker 2: No, Luckily, we don't have any equity statutist. In this conversation, 86 00:05:22,279 --> 00:05:25,560 Speaker 2: you've painted a fantastic sort of picture of people in 87 00:05:25,560 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 2: the Council Economic Advisors examining the tweets and then potentially 88 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:30,520 Speaker 2: going to the President to talk to him about the 89 00:05:30,560 --> 00:05:32,440 Speaker 2: impact on the stock market. And I want to get 90 00:05:32,440 --> 00:05:34,640 Speaker 2: into that and his view of Tariff's in a minute. 91 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 2: But Josh, I mean you're someone who, in writing that book, 92 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:43,280 Speaker 2: you were very close to Trump and Steve Bannon as 93 00:05:43,600 --> 00:05:46,520 Speaker 2: as the campaign unfolded and as they went into the 94 00:05:46,520 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 2: White House. When you see what's happening at mare A Lago, 95 00:05:52,320 --> 00:05:57,400 Speaker 2: now the dynamics of this potentially this new administration, and 96 00:05:57,440 --> 00:05:59,440 Speaker 2: then think about what Wall Street seems to think about it, 97 00:05:59,440 --> 00:06:01,120 Speaker 2: do you think there'd be hopelessly optimistic? 98 00:06:01,480 --> 00:06:03,720 Speaker 3: I do, and with a proviser that I too, am 99 00:06:03,800 --> 00:06:09,480 Speaker 3: not an equity strategistic your political reporter, I do think 100 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:11,279 Speaker 3: you know the way I think of it talking to 101 00:06:11,279 --> 00:06:13,479 Speaker 3: people down in mar Alago now, talking to some of 102 00:06:13,520 --> 00:06:15,520 Speaker 3: my Wall Street source. So it is clearly right now 103 00:06:15,520 --> 00:06:19,200 Speaker 3: Trump is in a honeymoon phase. Traders are exuberant. Everybody's 104 00:06:19,240 --> 00:06:24,040 Speaker 3: excited about tax cuts, the regulation mergers, the rise of crypto, 105 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:29,480 Speaker 3: perhaps the fall of Lena Khan. Expectations are running sky high. 106 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:33,159 Speaker 3: But I tend to analyze Trump like you have to 107 00:06:33,160 --> 00:06:37,080 Speaker 3: think about two categories. One is the expectations and then 108 00:06:37,120 --> 00:06:39,839 Speaker 3: there's the execution. I think what Wall Street might be 109 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:43,320 Speaker 3: forgetting right now is that Trump always brings with him 110 00:06:43,920 --> 00:06:48,479 Speaker 3: a certain level of chaos. That means the expectation or 111 00:06:48,520 --> 00:06:51,280 Speaker 3: the execution is never as smooth as he'd like it 112 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:55,880 Speaker 3: to be. He's an impulsive guy. He gets angry, things 113 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:59,760 Speaker 3: go wrong, and I think that you know the fact 114 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:02,039 Speaker 3: that he he's not president yet and he isn't running 115 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:06,080 Speaker 3: the government yet, has led people perhaps to discount that 116 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:09,119 Speaker 3: second part of the equation that once he gets in there, 117 00:07:09,720 --> 00:07:14,600 Speaker 3: especially given the types of people that he wants to 118 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:17,920 Speaker 3: surround himself with in his new administration, things could go 119 00:07:17,960 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 3: off the rails very quickly. And that's something that every investor, 120 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:22,120 Speaker 3: I think, is going to want to keep a close eye. 121 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:25,560 Speaker 2: It's interesting that goes slightly against you know, the expectation 122 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:31,840 Speaker 2: had been chaos Trump one point zero, and he's had 123 00:07:31,880 --> 00:07:34,480 Speaker 2: four years to know Licky's wounds, think about his mistakes. 124 00:07:34,840 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 2: This is this little storyline. Now he's back, he's less 125 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:42,240 Speaker 2: constrained in all the ways that we know, lack of 126 00:07:42,240 --> 00:07:47,560 Speaker 2: guard rails, etc. So potentially more radical, but also more disciplined. 127 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:49,120 Speaker 2: You know, he kind of knows his way around the 128 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:51,680 Speaker 2: White House, he knows his way around government. You think 129 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:53,200 Speaker 2: that's not going to make a difference. 130 00:07:54,600 --> 00:07:57,760 Speaker 3: That was the thought process going in. But I think 131 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:01,640 Speaker 3: that the big revelation about Trump two point is that 132 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:06,240 Speaker 3: he's not necessarily going to be surrounded by savvy veterans 133 00:08:06,240 --> 00:08:08,880 Speaker 3: of government. Look, the number that jumps out to me 134 00:08:09,880 --> 00:08:14,400 Speaker 3: is that Trump has nominated eleven Fox News personality to 135 00:08:14,440 --> 00:08:17,840 Speaker 3: serve in his administration, including his Secretary of State and 136 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:21,720 Speaker 3: Attorney General, although the Attorney General, Matt Gates, has now 137 00:08:21,800 --> 00:08:24,640 Speaker 3: bowed out. I mean to me, that raises the question 138 00:08:24,880 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 3: of who's actually going to be running the government and 139 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:33,080 Speaker 3: what happens when a crisis inevitably hits. Is Trump's administration 140 00:08:33,320 --> 00:08:35,680 Speaker 3: going to be able to perform as well as an 141 00:08:35,760 --> 00:08:40,480 Speaker 3: ordinary Democratic or Republican administration, or even Trump's last administration 142 00:08:40,559 --> 00:08:44,240 Speaker 3: where you did have military generals, you had a segment 143 00:08:44,280 --> 00:08:47,720 Speaker 3: of the Republican Party that wasn't MAGA, people like Mitt Romney. 144 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 3: All those people are gone this type around, this time around, 145 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:53,920 Speaker 3: and Trump has made clear that he wants to come in. 146 00:08:54,280 --> 00:08:59,080 Speaker 3: He wants to aggressively impose tariffs, cut taxes, toport millions 147 00:08:59,120 --> 00:09:02,559 Speaker 3: of immigrants. I was talking to a Democratic source yesterday 148 00:09:02,600 --> 00:09:05,160 Speaker 3: who said, the thing that people aren't thinking about is 149 00:09:05,200 --> 00:09:07,880 Speaker 3: Trump wants to drive one hundred miles an hour, but 150 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:09,959 Speaker 3: this time there are no guardrails in the highway. I 151 00:09:09,960 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 3: think that's the right way to think about Trump. 152 00:09:12,120 --> 00:09:14,760 Speaker 2: Anna. The Council of Economic Advisors was perhaps it was 153 00:09:14,800 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 2: a haven of efficiency. 154 00:09:16,960 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 3: But. 155 00:09:19,559 --> 00:09:23,240 Speaker 2: Absolutely not all right, So, I mean, what does that 156 00:09:23,320 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 2: ring true to you? Anna? 157 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:28,440 Speaker 1: I have to disagree a bit with Josh here. I 158 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:33,080 Speaker 1: have only been focused on the economic personnel nomination, and 159 00:09:33,160 --> 00:09:37,200 Speaker 1: I thought that the economic nominees that Trump has announced 160 00:09:37,200 --> 00:09:41,840 Speaker 1: so far sounds like business as usual. In fact, I 161 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:45,880 Speaker 1: think that the nomination of Scott Dissent and Kevin Hassett 162 00:09:46,400 --> 00:09:52,560 Speaker 1: actually felt more solid than the first administration and in 163 00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:57,600 Speaker 1: terms of chaos, Josh, you mentioned chaos, I think there 164 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:02,400 Speaker 1: are other words to describe it. Maybe another you could 165 00:10:02,480 --> 00:10:07,079 Speaker 1: think about it as a euphemism, but one word would 166 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:07,840 Speaker 1: be a team. 167 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:08,480 Speaker 2: Of rifle. 168 00:10:10,240 --> 00:10:16,000 Speaker 1: Because I so, while I have not briefed the president 169 00:10:16,559 --> 00:10:21,839 Speaker 1: uh a former president, I had briefed principles on these 170 00:10:22,080 --> 00:10:26,520 Speaker 1: potus meetings, and I got debriefed from it. And the 171 00:10:26,559 --> 00:10:30,319 Speaker 1: sense I got from it is that Donald Trump enjoys 172 00:10:30,760 --> 00:10:37,200 Speaker 1: seeing his economic cabinet officials debates or fights. I think 173 00:10:37,200 --> 00:10:40,400 Speaker 1: it's part of his style, this chaotic process, if you 174 00:10:40,440 --> 00:10:43,880 Speaker 1: want to describe it that way, is for him to 175 00:10:44,440 --> 00:10:48,360 Speaker 1: hear a range of views. So the idea that he 176 00:10:48,679 --> 00:10:52,840 Speaker 1: is a just this out of touch emperor only listening 177 00:10:52,880 --> 00:10:57,000 Speaker 1: to this that he wants to hear, I think that 178 00:10:57,120 --> 00:11:01,480 Speaker 1: is not accurate. The chaos I personally experience in their 179 00:11:01,520 --> 00:11:07,199 Speaker 1: first administration, outside of just being there during the thick 180 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:10,360 Speaker 1: of the pandemic while it was happening and during the 181 00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:14,080 Speaker 1: trade war. Outside of those policy related drama, the drama 182 00:11:14,080 --> 00:11:18,320 Speaker 1: I experience is the leaks whenever there is a policy proposal, 183 00:11:18,880 --> 00:11:24,079 Speaker 1: and in all administration there will be crazy economic proposals. 184 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:27,680 Speaker 1: I mean the the the objective of CEA is to 185 00:11:28,040 --> 00:11:34,400 Speaker 1: do an objective analysis on any kind of crazy economic 186 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:37,920 Speaker 1: right and then shoot it down. We just shoot down 187 00:11:37,960 --> 00:11:40,520 Speaker 1: a lot of stuff, right. But then what what in 188 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:43,319 Speaker 1: a Trump administration, what will usually happen is when a 189 00:11:43,400 --> 00:11:46,400 Speaker 1: proposals come in and suddenly the next day it would 190 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:49,040 Speaker 1: it will show up in the media. And in fact, 191 00:11:49,120 --> 00:11:53,120 Speaker 1: I remember one very specific incident where it actually showed 192 00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:57,320 Speaker 1: up in the Bloomberg and then the next day the 193 00:11:57,400 --> 00:12:00,240 Speaker 1: Chao is a order. 194 00:12:00,280 --> 00:12:04,479 Speaker 3: I really did appreciate all the lead as an insider. 195 00:12:04,520 --> 00:12:09,560 Speaker 1: What happened is actually sow's distrust between everybody because there's 196 00:12:09,640 --> 00:12:11,480 Speaker 1: only a small group of people who are in the 197 00:12:11,640 --> 00:12:14,760 Speaker 1: in the no and then suddenly the story appears in 198 00:12:14,800 --> 00:12:18,240 Speaker 1: the media and the whole policy process just breaks down. 199 00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:21,520 Speaker 1: There's and then people started behaving in a way where 200 00:12:21,600 --> 00:12:24,080 Speaker 1: I don't trust you, you don't trust me. Let's control the information. 201 00:12:24,440 --> 00:12:26,520 Speaker 2: Okay, But you started off disagreeing with Josh, and then 202 00:12:26,600 --> 00:12:28,800 Speaker 2: you may seem to be coming back to a slightly 203 00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:29,839 Speaker 2: more chaotic vision. 204 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:32,200 Speaker 3: And I made a great point there about the economic team. 205 00:12:32,240 --> 00:12:34,560 Speaker 3: That is the one exception to what I was talking 206 00:12:34,559 --> 00:12:36,959 Speaker 3: about earlier. And let me emphasize to Scott Bess in 207 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,400 Speaker 3: his Treasury secretary, a story that Bloomberg News broke. By 208 00:12:40,400 --> 00:12:42,400 Speaker 3: the way, I think the most positive. 209 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:43,880 Speaker 2: You may have been on the byline I seem to 210 00:12:44,240 --> 00:12:45,360 Speaker 2: I might have been. I might have been. 211 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:48,360 Speaker 3: It's probably the most positive sign I think for Wall 212 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:52,160 Speaker 3: Streets and Marcus. A universal praise among my Democratic and 213 00:12:52,200 --> 00:12:54,959 Speaker 3: Republican political sources that a quote unquote adult in the 214 00:12:55,040 --> 00:12:57,880 Speaker 3: room is going to be Treasury Secretary. To me, however, 215 00:12:57,960 --> 00:13:00,360 Speaker 3: as a political reporter, as somebody you know who writes 216 00:13:00,400 --> 00:13:02,760 Speaker 3: about all the backstabbing, is the recipient of some of 217 00:13:02,800 --> 00:13:05,640 Speaker 3: these leaks. The difficult thing is, at the end of 218 00:13:05,640 --> 00:13:08,200 Speaker 3: the day, Trump is still Trump, and the people around 219 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:10,640 Speaker 3: Trump behave in a certain kind of way that I 220 00:13:10,679 --> 00:13:13,360 Speaker 3: don't think people like Scott Besson, who have no experience 221 00:13:13,400 --> 00:13:17,079 Speaker 3: working for Trump are necessarily accustomed to. So the big 222 00:13:17,200 --> 00:13:19,760 Speaker 3: question I have in my mind is I don't have 223 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:23,360 Speaker 3: any doubt that Scott Besson would be a steady hand 224 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:26,720 Speaker 3: on the tiller of the economy if he's allowed to 225 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:29,160 Speaker 3: steer it. I want to know is what happens when 226 00:13:29,200 --> 00:13:32,120 Speaker 3: Trump decides he wants to do something that Besson doesn't 227 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:35,360 Speaker 3: think is necessarily a great idea for the economy, for 228 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:40,199 Speaker 3: global markets, what have you? Does he have the stature 229 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:42,280 Speaker 3: and power and where we're all to stand up to 230 00:13:42,320 --> 00:13:46,360 Speaker 3: Trump and to convince him to do otherwise, or is 231 00:13:46,400 --> 00:13:49,040 Speaker 3: he in the position that a lot of Trump cabinet 232 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:53,839 Speaker 3: officials have been historically where you either get steamrolled or 233 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:57,240 Speaker 3: pushed out or layered over and aren't able to keep 234 00:13:57,280 --> 00:13:58,680 Speaker 3: the car on the highway. To go back to my 235 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:00,000 Speaker 3: earlier metaphor. 236 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:06,320 Speaker 2: When we think about whether this administration will be broadly 237 00:14:06,400 --> 00:14:08,320 Speaker 2: good for the economy, good for Wall Street, or not, 238 00:14:08,400 --> 00:14:11,280 Speaker 2: I think there's a sort of a big question to 239 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:14,440 Speaker 2: be asked about one particular set policies, which is the tariffs. 240 00:14:14,520 --> 00:14:15,760 Speaker 2: So I just want to spend a little bit of 241 00:14:15,800 --> 00:14:17,839 Speaker 2: time on that. I mean, you're very interesting Anna on 242 00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:21,840 Speaker 2: how that panned out in the first administration. 243 00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:25,400 Speaker 1: Yeah, so, Stephanie. I think the main point that I 244 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:28,400 Speaker 1: would try to make is that it's important to separate 245 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:32,440 Speaker 1: the drama from the execution. As Sean Dannen wrote in 246 00:14:32,480 --> 00:14:35,000 Speaker 1: Our Big Take earlier this week, I think that's a 247 00:14:35,040 --> 00:14:38,720 Speaker 1: great way to describe how to think about the tariffs 248 00:14:38,720 --> 00:14:41,480 Speaker 1: in the next four years. If you were a person 249 00:14:41,640 --> 00:14:45,080 Speaker 1: who was in Mars in twenty sixteen to twenty twenty, 250 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:47,640 Speaker 1: and you came back, and so you didn't live through 251 00:14:47,680 --> 00:14:52,040 Speaker 1: the Twitter all the tweets. I did watch TV at all. 252 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:54,880 Speaker 1: And then they are just looking at the numbers, looking 253 00:14:54,960 --> 00:14:58,200 Speaker 1: at the escalation tranches of the tariffs, looking at the 254 00:14:58,680 --> 00:15:03,360 Speaker 1: CPI data, looking at the unemployment, manufacturing employment data. You 255 00:15:04,720 --> 00:15:07,520 Speaker 1: this person from MARS would think that, well, it turns 256 00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,640 Speaker 1: out that most of the tariffs had very little negative 257 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:14,840 Speaker 1: impact on employment in twenty eighteen, and inflation in twenty 258 00:15:14,920 --> 00:15:18,400 Speaker 1: nineteen ended up even below two percent. And this person 259 00:15:18,440 --> 00:15:21,680 Speaker 1: would also look at the execution of the tariff and 260 00:15:21,720 --> 00:15:25,600 Speaker 1: thinking that there is an internal logic and strategy to 261 00:15:25,760 --> 00:15:28,360 Speaker 1: how they executed the tariffs. So if you look at it, 262 00:15:29,240 --> 00:15:33,200 Speaker 1: the first tranches of tariffs were on solar panels and steel, 263 00:15:33,520 --> 00:15:36,640 Speaker 1: and it happened in early twenty eighteen. And this was 264 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:42,520 Speaker 1: after the Republicans passed the Text Jobs and Cuts Act 265 00:15:42,600 --> 00:15:45,800 Speaker 1: in December seventeen, right in the first year of the 266 00:15:45,840 --> 00:15:49,280 Speaker 1: Trump administration. There was no tariffs at all. And I 267 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:52,000 Speaker 1: think there's a logic to why they want to sequence 268 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:56,160 Speaker 1: the tariffs increase after the tax cuts was passed, so 269 00:15:56,160 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: that it could in case there was negative effect. So 270 00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:04,600 Speaker 1: that's what observation that there's a strategic sequencing to when 271 00:16:04,640 --> 00:16:08,920 Speaker 1: these escalation of tariffs will happen. The second part is 272 00:16:08,960 --> 00:16:13,160 Speaker 1: that you also look at how these tariffs trunches are designed. 273 00:16:13,440 --> 00:16:17,280 Speaker 1: It turns out that the first three trunches on China, 274 00:16:17,320 --> 00:16:21,520 Speaker 1: as well as the solar panel and the steel were 275 00:16:21,880 --> 00:16:26,840 Speaker 1: mainly on intermediate goods and capital goods. Economic theory actually 276 00:16:26,840 --> 00:16:30,600 Speaker 1: tells you that if of the tariffs is on these 277 00:16:30,680 --> 00:16:34,240 Speaker 1: type of goods, it tends to be not as inflationary. 278 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:37,360 Speaker 1: So that's actually what the data was showing that throughout 279 00:16:37,760 --> 00:16:42,640 Speaker 1: the first four waves of tariffs and twenty eighteen, manufacturing 280 00:16:42,640 --> 00:16:47,320 Speaker 1: employment was climbing, and so I think Trump remember that 281 00:16:47,440 --> 00:16:50,880 Speaker 1: part of the data. But what also happened is when 282 00:16:50,920 --> 00:16:54,920 Speaker 1: he started imposing the really big Section three oh one 283 00:16:55,000 --> 00:16:59,240 Speaker 1: tariffs on China, and it starts getting into consumer goods 284 00:16:59,280 --> 00:17:00,840 Speaker 1: because they just ran. 285 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:02,320 Speaker 2: Out, and those are the things that when you're putting 286 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:05,600 Speaker 2: tarifts on consumer goods just to sort of that's it's 287 00:17:05,640 --> 00:17:07,880 Speaker 2: harder for the retailers to know, they end up having 288 00:17:07,880 --> 00:17:10,800 Speaker 2: to pass it on to consumers exactly. 289 00:17:11,160 --> 00:17:14,919 Speaker 1: So towards the last two waves, which are the Section 290 00:17:15,040 --> 00:17:18,199 Speaker 1: three or one tariffs on Chinese goods. That's when you 291 00:17:18,320 --> 00:17:22,440 Speaker 1: started seeing employment in manufacturing sectors dropping. 292 00:17:22,480 --> 00:17:23,399 Speaker 2: It's very clear the. 293 00:17:23,480 --> 00:17:26,680 Speaker 1: Moment three on one terrors are imposed, then you start 294 00:17:26,760 --> 00:17:29,120 Speaker 1: seeing the manufacturing employment going down. 295 00:17:29,320 --> 00:17:30,200 Speaker 2: Has he forgotten that? 296 00:17:31,080 --> 00:17:33,640 Speaker 1: So I was about to get there going. 297 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:36,360 Speaker 2: Back, sorry, going back to. 298 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:39,879 Speaker 1: Josh point about who is Trump? Like, what is Trump? 299 00:17:39,960 --> 00:17:41,840 Speaker 1: Is his own men at the end of the day, 300 00:17:41,880 --> 00:17:47,080 Speaker 1: And I totally agree, right, I would not rely on 301 00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:52,240 Speaker 1: the voice of Scott dissent as the sole countervailing voice. 302 00:17:52,240 --> 00:17:55,280 Speaker 1: And I don't think anyone would have the power to 303 00:17:56,440 --> 00:18:01,000 Speaker 1: like single handedly pull Trump away from whatever he decided, 304 00:18:01,040 --> 00:18:03,800 Speaker 1: because Trump, after all, is the president. But I think 305 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:08,399 Speaker 1: Trump is a rational president putting outside the drama once again. 306 00:18:08,800 --> 00:18:11,800 Speaker 1: So what happened in twenty nineteen is as I was 307 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:15,480 Speaker 1: saying that economic data start turning, business investments start flowing 308 00:18:15,520 --> 00:18:21,800 Speaker 1: down meaningfully, yield curve inverted, manufacturing employments start plunging, and 309 00:18:22,080 --> 00:18:26,720 Speaker 1: within the FED, there was a burgeoning body of literature 310 00:18:26,760 --> 00:18:31,480 Speaker 1: looking at trade policy uncertainty and clearly tracing the impact 311 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:35,399 Speaker 1: of all these tariff announcements to lower investment. And so 312 00:18:35,960 --> 00:18:40,359 Speaker 1: we presented all this evidence to Jared Kushner and then 313 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:44,080 Speaker 1: later to Trump, and he was actually quite receptive to 314 00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:48,159 Speaker 1: it that he does look at economic evidence. He cares 315 00:18:48,240 --> 00:18:51,399 Speaker 1: about the stock market, he cares about the performance of 316 00:18:51,440 --> 00:18:55,040 Speaker 1: the economy. So if you do show him evidence, clear 317 00:18:55,080 --> 00:18:59,400 Speaker 1: evidence that this is hurting the economy, then he will 318 00:18:59,440 --> 00:19:01,720 Speaker 1: pull back. And that was the one of the key 319 00:19:01,760 --> 00:19:05,919 Speaker 1: reason for why he decided to de escalate by accepting 320 00:19:05,960 --> 00:19:09,240 Speaker 1: the Phase one deal in December of twenty nine. 321 00:19:09,320 --> 00:19:11,520 Speaker 3: I actually spoke to Trump in July with some of 322 00:19:11,520 --> 00:19:13,760 Speaker 3: my Bloomer Business we colleagues for the cover story we did, 323 00:19:13,800 --> 00:19:16,520 Speaker 3: and we brought up the issues of terriffs, and to me, 324 00:19:16,720 --> 00:19:19,080 Speaker 3: the interesting tension in Trump's mind that Anna did a 325 00:19:19,080 --> 00:19:21,520 Speaker 3: really nice job of describing is that when we said 326 00:19:21,640 --> 00:19:25,439 Speaker 3: most mainstream economists agree the inflation or the terroiffsre inflationary, 327 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:28,280 Speaker 3: Trump jumped in and said, no, they're not. And just 328 00:19:28,280 --> 00:19:30,760 Speaker 3: look at my last administration imposed tariffs, and we didn't 329 00:19:30,760 --> 00:19:33,679 Speaker 3: get the kind of runaway inflation that people warning about. Therefore, 330 00:19:34,040 --> 00:19:36,360 Speaker 3: this is not something I'm worried about in the next 331 00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:39,119 Speaker 3: Trump presidency. And I thought that was interesting. In speaking 332 00:19:39,119 --> 00:19:44,199 Speaker 3: to people around Washington policy expert types, everybody seems to 333 00:19:44,480 --> 00:19:47,480 Speaker 3: understand that this is Trump's belief, and so I think 334 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:50,080 Speaker 3: one of the worries that people have that investor should 335 00:19:50,080 --> 00:19:52,760 Speaker 3: at least be aware of is that if Trump doesn't 336 00:19:52,760 --> 00:19:56,440 Speaker 3: believe the tariffs are inflationary or the expectation is that 337 00:19:56,480 --> 00:19:59,359 Speaker 3: he's going to push to impose them until the point 338 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:01,960 Speaker 3: comes that we really do see inflation or that the 339 00:20:01,960 --> 00:20:04,240 Speaker 3: stock market falls. So I'd said earlier there really aren't 340 00:20:04,240 --> 00:20:06,320 Speaker 3: any guardrails around Trump, but I do think that that 341 00:20:06,440 --> 00:20:09,679 Speaker 3: one kind of guardrail, and alluded to was the stock market. 342 00:20:09,720 --> 00:20:12,560 Speaker 3: Are oddly enough that Trump has always viewed the stock 343 00:20:12,600 --> 00:20:15,400 Speaker 3: market as a measure, a gauge of his own success, 344 00:20:16,000 --> 00:20:18,400 Speaker 3: and if he shoots too far on tariffs or any 345 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:20,560 Speaker 3: other kind of inflationary policy, if he does get a 346 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:22,680 Speaker 3: negative reaction to him the stock market, I think the 347 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:24,600 Speaker 3: evidence is that that he will pull back, or that 348 00:20:24,640 --> 00:20:26,640 Speaker 3: he's at least willing to pull back. But I think 349 00:20:26,680 --> 00:20:29,119 Speaker 3: what that means is we look ahead to a second 350 00:20:29,119 --> 00:20:31,640 Speaker 3: Trump administration, is that it's going to be a really 351 00:20:31,680 --> 00:20:35,240 Speaker 3: wild ride for either way, and like, really the smart 352 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:36,919 Speaker 3: thing to do is just to kind of buckle in 353 00:20:37,600 --> 00:20:39,120 Speaker 3: and keep reading Bloomberg. 354 00:20:40,359 --> 00:20:42,160 Speaker 2: Well, I think you've already won the award for most 355 00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:44,360 Speaker 2: Bloomberg plug. Yeah episode. 356 00:20:44,600 --> 00:20:47,399 Speaker 3: I've actually had sources during the transition reach out to 357 00:20:47,440 --> 00:20:49,880 Speaker 3: me and say, hey, is it possible could you give 358 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:51,679 Speaker 3: me this? In fact, one of them is your report 359 00:20:51,720 --> 00:20:53,800 Speaker 3: Anna and Bloomer Anna. Could you give me this Bloomberg 360 00:20:53,880 --> 00:20:56,240 Speaker 3: story or this Bloomberg report. It's great, it's wonderful for 361 00:20:56,359 --> 00:20:59,000 Speaker 3: source buildings. But it made me aware of just how 362 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:02,560 Speaker 3: closely people in my world, the kind of politics and finance, 363 00:21:02,720 --> 00:21:04,960 Speaker 3: are paying attention to what's going to happen, what people 364 00:21:05,000 --> 00:21:08,160 Speaker 3: are expecting, where the various effects might show up, because 365 00:21:08,160 --> 00:21:09,480 Speaker 3: at the end of the day, none of us really 366 00:21:09,480 --> 00:21:10,280 Speaker 3: know what's going to happen. 367 00:21:10,960 --> 00:21:13,400 Speaker 2: Obviously, he cares a lot about the stock market. You've 368 00:21:13,400 --> 00:21:16,280 Speaker 2: talked in the past about his need to be a 369 00:21:16,320 --> 00:21:19,879 Speaker 2: plutocratic populist. You know, all these billionaires backing him, and 370 00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:23,479 Speaker 2: certainly a lot of Wall Street think individual capitalists on 371 00:21:23,520 --> 00:21:25,440 Speaker 2: Wall Street thinking they're going to be made better off 372 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:29,080 Speaker 2: by him. But also the great achievement of his reelection 373 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:33,199 Speaker 2: has been to bring into the Republican fold all of 374 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:38,280 Speaker 2: these very angry working class people who may stay angry 375 00:21:38,400 --> 00:21:40,719 Speaker 2: if he's doing all the things he needs to do 376 00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:43,119 Speaker 2: to keep the stock market high. So how does that work? 377 00:21:43,600 --> 00:21:45,480 Speaker 3: I think the challenge for Trump is that he was 378 00:21:45,480 --> 00:21:49,920 Speaker 3: elected by a multiracial, working class group of voters who 379 00:21:50,119 --> 00:21:54,040 Speaker 3: very clearly sided with him because they were angry about 380 00:21:54,080 --> 00:21:56,800 Speaker 3: high prices and inflation and thought Trump could do a 381 00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:00,320 Speaker 3: better job than Joe Biden and Kamala Harris had And 382 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:04,080 Speaker 3: if Trump is too aggressive with tariffs, with cutting taxes, 383 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:07,400 Speaker 3: with doing things to drive up inflation, that coalition could 384 00:22:07,480 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 3: quickly fall apart. Looking at what Trump seems to want 385 00:22:11,880 --> 00:22:14,200 Speaker 3: to do in his first one hundred days, the focus 386 00:22:14,280 --> 00:22:17,080 Speaker 3: is going to be on extending those Trump tax cuts, 387 00:22:17,720 --> 00:22:19,600 Speaker 3: not the sort of thing I think that's going to 388 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:22,280 Speaker 3: excite a lot of the working class folks that are 389 00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:25,800 Speaker 3: angry about prices at the grocery store. So the balancing 390 00:22:25,840 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 3: act for Trump is going to be to do these 391 00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:33,639 Speaker 3: exciting plutocratic things that have investors in Wall Street so happy, 392 00:22:34,800 --> 00:22:40,480 Speaker 3: while not angering the group of voters who moved from 393 00:22:40,560 --> 00:22:43,440 Speaker 3: Joe Biden to Donald Trump because they were expecting lower 394 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:44,840 Speaker 3: prices in a stronger economy. 395 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:47,800 Speaker 2: Do you think you can do it with this team? 396 00:22:48,680 --> 00:22:48,960 Speaker 1: Boy? 397 00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:51,520 Speaker 3: As a political reporter, I'm not supposed to. 398 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:56,040 Speaker 2: What should we be looking for to get clues as 399 00:22:56,080 --> 00:22:57,240 Speaker 2: to how he's squaring this. 400 00:22:57,600 --> 00:22:58,800 Speaker 3: I would look at the feed, and I would look 401 00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:01,680 Speaker 3: at inflation, right. You know, if inflation continues to fall, 402 00:23:01,920 --> 00:23:04,280 Speaker 3: Trump will not hesitate to leap in and claim credit 403 00:23:04,359 --> 00:23:08,919 Speaker 3: for it. You know, if voters are happy, then I 404 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:12,280 Speaker 3: think he'll be in pretty good shape. But with Trump, 405 00:23:12,320 --> 00:23:14,760 Speaker 3: there's always the risk that there's some kind of a crisis, 406 00:23:14,760 --> 00:23:20,320 Speaker 3: an economic crisis, a global crisis in his administration Stocked 407 00:23:20,359 --> 00:23:22,480 Speaker 3: with people it looks like who aren't going to be 408 00:23:22,960 --> 00:23:26,240 Speaker 3: veterans of government. You just don't know what's going to happen, 409 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:27,920 Speaker 3: and there's a lot of chance, I think, for things 410 00:23:27,960 --> 00:23:30,399 Speaker 3: to go wrong. So certainly he could pull it off. 411 00:23:30,520 --> 00:23:33,280 Speaker 3: Everybody was worried in the first Trump administration. As Anna 412 00:23:33,320 --> 00:23:36,520 Speaker 3: said earlier, it wound up pretty good for the American economy, 413 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:39,280 Speaker 3: and so I think the hope is that the chaos 414 00:23:39,359 --> 00:23:41,960 Speaker 3: will be contained and that we'll get another four years 415 00:23:42,160 --> 00:23:43,520 Speaker 3: of positive economic growth. 416 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:47,919 Speaker 2: Anna, it's perfect symmetry. We've ended up with trusting the 417 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:50,440 Speaker 2: FED as the answer to whether or not he's going 418 00:23:50,480 --> 00:23:52,160 Speaker 2: to pull things off. What do you think? 419 00:23:52,720 --> 00:23:55,160 Speaker 1: I don't think clearly sho doing that. 420 00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 2: I think you know, I think you don't think so 421 00:23:58,840 --> 00:23:59,960 Speaker 2: you don't think we should be trusted. 422 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:06,879 Speaker 1: I would rather not answer that question. Yes, some of 423 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:10,800 Speaker 1: the things that Trump wants to do create a tension 424 00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:15,320 Speaker 1: between Wall Street and the working class multiracial working class 425 00:24:15,320 --> 00:24:18,679 Speaker 1: coalition that Josh mentioned. But there's one thing that's not 426 00:24:18,760 --> 00:24:24,280 Speaker 1: intention which is growth. If he manages through his deregulation, 427 00:24:24,359 --> 00:24:27,440 Speaker 1: for example, because deregulation is almost like a free launch, 428 00:24:27,480 --> 00:24:31,640 Speaker 1: it does not really increase the federal deficit and actually 429 00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:36,479 Speaker 1: lower prices. It could lower prices. In fact, I just 430 00:24:36,720 --> 00:24:40,639 Speaker 1: came across a very ancient document last week that it 431 00:24:40,720 --> 00:24:43,320 Speaker 1: turned out that in nineteen seventy four, when inflation was 432 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:47,240 Speaker 1: running a double digit in US, the CEA pulled together 433 00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:51,320 Speaker 1: a coalition of half Republicans have Democrats to come up 434 00:24:51,359 --> 00:24:55,160 Speaker 1: with solutions for dealing with inflation. And the one agreement 435 00:24:55,320 --> 00:24:59,160 Speaker 1: that both sides of the aisle come to is deregulation 436 00:24:59,240 --> 00:25:03,080 Speaker 1: and energy and also financial sector. And that led to 437 00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:07,400 Speaker 1: two decades of wave of deregulation. So I think if 438 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:11,640 Speaker 1: Trump manages to work that very narrow path where he's 439 00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:16,480 Speaker 1: able to boost growth without increasing inflation, then there will 440 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:19,960 Speaker 1: be no tension between the stock market and the working 441 00:25:19,960 --> 00:25:20,840 Speaker 1: class people. 442 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:24,800 Speaker 2: Fantastic note, optimistic note on which to end optimisty for 443 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:28,720 Speaker 2: all of us, let alone, Donald Trump, Anna Wong, Josh Green. 444 00:25:28,800 --> 00:25:37,919 Speaker 2: Thank you so much, thank you, thank you, thanks for 445 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:40,720 Speaker 2: listening to this bonus edition of voter Nomics from Bloomberg. 446 00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:43,679 Speaker 2: This episode was hosted by me Stephanie Flanders and was 447 00:25:43,680 --> 00:25:47,159 Speaker 2: produced by Summer Sali, with production support by Moses and 448 00:25:47,240 --> 00:25:51,200 Speaker 2: Dam and sound designed by Blake Maples. Brendan Francis Newnham 449 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:55,200 Speaker 2: is our executive producer, and Sage Bowman is Head of Podcasts. 450 00:25:55,520 --> 00:25:58,920 Speaker 2: Special thanks obviously to Anna Wong and Josh Green. 451 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:17,720 Speaker 3: Umb