1 00:00:01,760 --> 00:00:04,880 Speaker 1: Als media. 2 00:00:05,400 --> 00:00:08,640 Speaker 2: Welcome to it happened here, a podcast that's about trade policy. 3 00:00:08,760 --> 00:00:12,039 Speaker 2: Now I'm your host, Via Wong. This is amazingly going 4 00:00:12,080 --> 00:00:14,280 Speaker 2: to be the fun one of all of these episodes. 5 00:00:14,680 --> 00:00:19,919 Speaker 2: It's about working tariffs, so it's gonna be a long week. Yeah. Yeah, 6 00:00:20,079 --> 00:00:23,520 Speaker 2: that was the voice of the singular Garrison Davis, the 7 00:00:23,600 --> 00:00:29,000 Speaker 2: one the only Yes. Hello, I'm excited to hear about tariffs. 8 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:31,720 Speaker 2: It's tariff talk here and it could happen here one 9 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:35,600 Speaker 2: of my favorite favorite topics. I guess now, all right, Garish, 10 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:38,280 Speaker 2: you're putting you on the spot. What is a tariff? Uh, 11 00:00:38,320 --> 00:00:46,120 Speaker 2: it's basically googling tariff. No, A tariff is when Trump 12 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:51,240 Speaker 2: says China's bad, so he makes China pay extra money 13 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:56,280 Speaker 2: to sell their goods to Americans, and luckily China pays 14 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:58,920 Speaker 2: for all of it, and the American consumer gets off 15 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:03,080 Speaker 2: with a boot sting economy. That's at least what I've heard. Yeah, so, 16 00:01:03,200 --> 00:01:07,000 Speaker 2: unfortunately for every one, I don't know, I guess I 17 00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:09,400 Speaker 2: guess there's some acceleration this. Two are probably really excited 18 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:10,759 Speaker 2: about this, most certainly. 19 00:01:11,440 --> 00:01:14,760 Speaker 3: But the way this actually works is Okay, So the 20 00:01:14,800 --> 00:01:17,240 Speaker 3: government sets up a tariff and that means if anyone 21 00:01:17,480 --> 00:01:19,720 Speaker 3: is bringing a good into the US, they have to 22 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:21,280 Speaker 3: pay the tariff on it, and that money goes to 23 00:01:21,280 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 3: the government. So okay, that There's been a long history 24 00:01:24,720 --> 00:01:27,040 Speaker 3: of tariffs in the US. This was a huge domestic 25 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:30,559 Speaker 3: policy think, particularly in the eighteen hundreds. That's really fucking boring. 26 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:34,200 Speaker 3: The incredibly short version of it is that the thing 27 00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 3: about tariffs is that, especially like tariffs on a specific sector, 28 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 3: is that they're good for you manufacturing that thing kind 29 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:43,520 Speaker 3: of mostly, and they're bad for anyone trying to buy 30 00:01:43,520 --> 00:01:47,559 Speaker 3: that good because it's now more expensive. So Trump's plan, 31 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 3: and we're going to get into a bit more detail 32 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:52,280 Speaker 3: about this, because there's parts of Trump's tariff plan that 33 00:01:52,320 --> 00:01:54,960 Speaker 3: everyone seems to have forgotten about for some reason that 34 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:56,720 Speaker 3: I don't know why they've forgotten about. 35 00:01:57,280 --> 00:02:00,280 Speaker 2: But the basic plan is to impose something like a 36 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 2: ten to twenty percent tariff on all goods that enter 37 00:02:02,920 --> 00:02:07,600 Speaker 2: the US from anywhere. There's specifically one for Mexico, but 38 00:02:07,760 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 2: the numbers on what the Mexico tariff is changes every 39 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 2: time he opens his mouth. Sometimes it's like twenty five percent. 40 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:15,960 Speaker 2: There's one where it's like two hundred and fifty percent, 41 00:02:16,480 --> 00:02:21,919 Speaker 2: of course, two interchangeable percentages. Yeah, and then for China, 42 00:02:22,000 --> 00:02:25,080 Speaker 2: it's supposed to be a tariff of somewhere between sixty 43 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:27,360 Speaker 2: sixty percent is the most commonly sided number. But he's 44 00:02:27,400 --> 00:02:30,520 Speaker 2: also set one hundred percent tariff once again basically the 45 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:33,560 Speaker 2: same thing. Yeah, and so you know, part of what we, 46 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 2: unfortunately the rest of us who live in the normal world, 47 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:37,839 Speaker 2: have to do is figure out what is actually going 48 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,799 Speaker 2: to happen if we get, for example, twenty percent tariffs 49 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:44,400 Speaker 2: on all goods entering the US and a sixty percent 50 00:02:44,440 --> 00:02:48,440 Speaker 2: tariff on goods from China. So the first thing you 51 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:50,680 Speaker 2: need to understand. I think most people kind of get 52 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 2: this now. But the thing about a tariff is that 53 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:54,959 Speaker 2: you pay for it. So the way that it works 54 00:02:55,000 --> 00:02:57,079 Speaker 2: in general is that this is just an additional cost 55 00:02:57,440 --> 00:03:00,440 Speaker 2: for the company that's doing it, that's doing that like 56 00:03:00,480 --> 00:03:03,680 Speaker 2: moving the good around, right, and so they are almost 57 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:06,960 Speaker 2: always going to just pass that cost directly on to you. Obviously, 58 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:10,040 Speaker 2: sometimes we've talked about pricing, the way that pricing works 59 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:13,000 Speaker 2: a lot on this show. Companies tend not to want 60 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:16,239 Speaker 2: to raise prices, largely because of their effects on consumer 61 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:18,960 Speaker 2: happiness and brand loyalty. And stuff like that. 62 00:03:19,000 --> 00:03:21,120 Speaker 3: So sometimes people will just eat shit on it. But 63 00:03:21,360 --> 00:03:23,680 Speaker 3: if you're talking about a sixty percent tariff, like you, 64 00:03:23,800 --> 00:03:25,600 Speaker 3: the sixty percent tariff is going to be paid for 65 00:03:25,680 --> 00:03:25,960 Speaker 3: by you. 66 00:03:26,639 --> 00:03:30,320 Speaker 2: So that means that anytime we buy something that's either 67 00:03:30,400 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 2: from Mexico or China or any of the other countries, 68 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:36,600 Speaker 2: that this will be applied to the easiest way for 69 00:03:36,680 --> 00:03:38,960 Speaker 2: these for these companies to get around the tariff is 70 00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 2: just to pass off the cost to the consumer. 71 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:43,560 Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's actually worse than that because and this 72 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 3: is something I don't think people really understand when you 73 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 3: think about global trade, right, people tend to think about 74 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:52,840 Speaker 3: trade as something that happens between countries, and this is 75 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:54,920 Speaker 3: something that was an old you know dream, like the 76 00:03:54,960 --> 00:03:57,560 Speaker 3: anti globalization movement. People sort of understood this and kind 77 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 3: of don't now. Trade doesn't actually really happened between countries. 78 00:04:01,120 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 3: Most trade is one company, an international company, moving a 79 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:08,840 Speaker 3: resource from one country to another. Right, So, like trade 80 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 3: is fucking Amazon moving something from a warehouse in one 81 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:13,560 Speaker 3: country to a warehouse in a second country. 82 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:18,040 Speaker 2: Right now. I've seen a lot of people and this 83 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:21,000 Speaker 2: ranges from like very very serious sort of you know, 84 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:24,200 Speaker 2: news sources and economists trying to sort of just directly 85 00:04:24,279 --> 00:04:26,080 Speaker 2: model what the price increases are going to be have 86 00:04:26,120 --> 00:04:27,560 Speaker 2: since people be like, oh, your shirts are going to 87 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:30,800 Speaker 2: cost sixty percent more, or physical video games will stop 88 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:34,240 Speaker 2: existing because they're too expensive, and who gives a shit? 89 00:04:34,680 --> 00:04:37,120 Speaker 2: Why are we even trying to do sectoral modeling of 90 00:04:37,160 --> 00:04:39,880 Speaker 2: the impacts of this. If you try to impose a 91 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 2: sixty to one hundred percent tariff on goods from China 92 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:44,560 Speaker 2: and a twenty percent tariff on all goes into the country, 93 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:48,039 Speaker 2: the economy will collapse. I don't know why everyone is 94 00:04:48,080 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 2: pretending that this won't fucking happen. We're going to get 95 00:04:51,240 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 2: into it a second. I guess the reason why people 96 00:04:53,000 --> 00:04:55,440 Speaker 2: are pretending this is happening because the way they're doing 97 00:04:55,440 --> 00:04:59,200 Speaker 2: the modeling kind of assumes that it won't, which is baffling, 98 00:04:59,520 --> 00:05:04,279 Speaker 2: incomp handsible nonsense. Well, and that's especially amusing because the 99 00:05:04,400 --> 00:05:07,880 Speaker 2: seemingly biggest issue this year around politics has been inflation, 100 00:05:08,240 --> 00:05:11,560 Speaker 2: which has impacted every country around the globe. The US 101 00:05:11,600 --> 00:05:15,640 Speaker 2: is actually whether it decently well, although there's been a 102 00:05:15,839 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 2: catastrophic failure in communicating that and listening to the actual 103 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:23,880 Speaker 2: complaints from people on how they're still struggling with rising inflation, 104 00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:27,160 Speaker 2: but still a big reason why Trump was elected is 105 00:05:27,200 --> 00:05:30,080 Speaker 2: because he simply is not Joe Biden, and he's not 106 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:33,400 Speaker 2: from the Biden Harris administration, and there's this perception that 107 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:35,480 Speaker 2: he will be able to fix the economy, he will 108 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:39,960 Speaker 2: be able to get around inflation lower prices, when seemingly 109 00:05:40,040 --> 00:05:43,640 Speaker 2: his main economic proposal will lead to what's probably going 110 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:45,840 Speaker 2: to be an economic collapse if it happens in the 111 00:05:46,120 --> 00:05:49,680 Speaker 2: brutality of which he proposes. And there's another element of this, 112 00:05:49,839 --> 00:05:52,159 Speaker 2: right when I say that the likely result of Trump 113 00:05:52,200 --> 00:05:54,279 Speaker 2: actually trying to implement his tariff policy is a global 114 00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:56,559 Speaker 2: economic collapse, there's another part of this that everyone seems 115 00:05:56,560 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 2: to have forgotten. And I don't know why they've forgotten this. 116 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:01,000 Speaker 3: I guess it's because nobody he actually reads any of 117 00:06:01,080 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 3: the things that Trump puts out on his website. 118 00:06:03,160 --> 00:06:06,560 Speaker 2: Which is true. No one actually reads that stuff. It's nuts, 119 00:06:07,120 --> 00:06:09,400 Speaker 2: especially his own supporters. Yeah, a majority of his own 120 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,200 Speaker 2: supporters do not pay attention to like Daily News. 121 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 4: Yes, and now I remember this because I did an 122 00:06:14,279 --> 00:06:17,280 Speaker 4: episode about these tariffs, like like six months ago, and 123 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:19,960 Speaker 4: one of the things about this, he has a thing 124 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:22,279 Speaker 4: called Agenda forty seven, right, which is his agenda for 125 00:06:22,279 --> 00:06:23,719 Speaker 4: what he's going to do when he takes. 126 00:06:23,560 --> 00:06:25,880 Speaker 2: Power, which no one has cared about. And now everyone 127 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:28,960 Speaker 2: is going through and posting policy proposals from like fucking 128 00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:32,359 Speaker 2: two years ago with the headline breaking news Trump announces 129 00:06:32,480 --> 00:06:35,120 Speaker 2: new plan, Like, no, he hasn't. This is our old plans. 130 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:37,680 Speaker 2: This stuff is like two years old. He's been openly 131 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:39,920 Speaker 2: talking about all that. Yeah, frages, And one of the 132 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:42,479 Speaker 2: important parts of this, I'm just gonna read this quote 133 00:06:42,560 --> 00:06:44,640 Speaker 2: because it is a part of this has been ignored 134 00:06:44,680 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 2: by every single fucking analysis I've seen, from like fucking 135 00:06:47,880 --> 00:06:50,120 Speaker 2: the Center for American Progress, who obviously we're gonna screw 136 00:06:50,160 --> 00:06:53,039 Speaker 2: this up, to like Stamford's labs, Like everyone who's been 137 00:06:53,080 --> 00:06:55,080 Speaker 2: writing about this has just ignored this part, which is 138 00:06:55,200 --> 00:06:58,640 Speaker 2: quote as one of his top economic priorities, President Trump 139 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:01,320 Speaker 2: will stop the flow of American jobs overseas by passing 140 00:07:01,400 --> 00:07:05,400 Speaker 2: the Trump Reciprocal Trade Act. Under the landmark legislation, if 141 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,479 Speaker 2: any foreign country imposes a tariff on American made goods 142 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:10,640 Speaker 2: that is higher than the tariff imposed by the US, 143 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:13,720 Speaker 2: President Trump will have the authority to impose a reciprocal 144 00:07:13,720 --> 00:07:17,720 Speaker 2: tariff on that country's goods. Okay, So what this would 145 00:07:17,760 --> 00:07:20,400 Speaker 2: do again is that any country that has a tariff 146 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 2: already or imposes a tariff. And this is important if 147 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:25,000 Speaker 2: we get into a trade war where countries start imposing 148 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 2: tariffs on each other in retaliation for their other terrorists, 149 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:29,480 Speaker 2: which is what happens when he did this trade war 150 00:07:29,520 --> 00:07:32,800 Speaker 2: with China in like twenty eighteen twenty nineteen. That means 151 00:07:32,800 --> 00:07:34,600 Speaker 2: that we're also going to impose a tariff, which means 152 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:37,320 Speaker 2: that the tariff rates don't stay at ten to twenty percent, 153 00:07:37,400 --> 00:07:41,280 Speaker 2: they cyclically spiral upwards. That's just like an escalating series 154 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:42,280 Speaker 2: of terroriffs. 155 00:07:42,360 --> 00:07:45,160 Speaker 3: Yeah, and the thing is right, the policy process that 156 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:47,360 Speaker 3: they have on his page are like, well, okay, we're 157 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:49,200 Speaker 3: going to do this, do like a presidential Act, right, 158 00:07:49,200 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 3: But the thing is the president actually has really, really, 159 00:07:52,680 --> 00:07:56,080 Speaker 3: under a number of different acts, has extremely wide discretionary 160 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:58,320 Speaker 3: authority to set tariffs as long as he can basically 161 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:00,000 Speaker 3: sort of like cobble together. 162 00:08:00,000 --> 00:08:01,600 Speaker 2: There's some kind of bullshit excuse. 163 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:03,240 Speaker 3: For it, and at that point you're lying on the 164 00:08:03,240 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 3: Supreme Court to stop literally anything that Trump does, Like 165 00:08:06,960 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 3: I don't give a shit, Well, I mean I don't know, 166 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:12,400 Speaker 3: maybe someone will like go up to like can Clarence 167 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:14,800 Speaker 3: Thomas and go like, hey, if we do this like 168 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:18,679 Speaker 3: importing new like windshield wipers for your RV is gonna 169 00:08:18,680 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 3: cost ten million dollars more or whatever. But like there's 170 00:08:21,400 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 3: there's no shot of this stuff getting stuff. And the 171 00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:27,240 Speaker 3: thing is right, the reciprocal tariff stuff. He could just 172 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:29,640 Speaker 3: do this through his existing Terriforf authority. He doesn't actually 173 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 3: even need to pass upthing through Congress. Who's actually be 174 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:33,520 Speaker 3: I think tricky for him, but he doesn't need to 175 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:34,280 Speaker 3: do You. 176 00:08:34,160 --> 00:08:37,240 Speaker 2: Know what we need to do right now, Tomia just badly, 177 00:08:37,520 --> 00:08:39,559 Speaker 2: badly cut to a bunch of companies that are going 178 00:08:39,559 --> 00:08:44,040 Speaker 2: to be absolutely fucking eviscerated if this goes through. That's right, 179 00:08:44,120 --> 00:08:47,400 Speaker 2: Donald Trump stands for anti capitalist action. He's going to 180 00:08:47,480 --> 00:09:02,120 Speaker 2: destroy free trade. So enjoy these ads when you still can. Okay, 181 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:04,640 Speaker 2: we are back Miah. Let's hear how Trump is going 182 00:09:04,679 --> 00:09:07,440 Speaker 2: to perfect the capitalist economic system by a series of 183 00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:10,360 Speaker 2: escalating tariffs that will destroy the economy and in doing so, 184 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:12,559 Speaker 2: but about in the opportunity for Marxist to size power 185 00:09:12,960 --> 00:09:16,040 Speaker 2: and change the world economic system. Yeah, so I'm going 186 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:20,880 Speaker 2: to read another quote from that same agenda forty seven thing. Quote. 187 00:09:21,200 --> 00:09:24,200 Speaker 2: For example, food items like cereals, your other preparatory goods 188 00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:26,680 Speaker 2: are tariffed at thirty two point nine percent by India 189 00:09:26,679 --> 00:09:29,000 Speaker 2: and nineteen point five percent by China and only three 190 00:09:29,000 --> 00:09:32,000 Speaker 2: point one percent by the US. India applies a tariff 191 00:09:32,040 --> 00:09:34,719 Speaker 2: of twenty five point three percent on transportation equipment, while 192 00:09:34,720 --> 00:09:37,240 Speaker 2: the US only terrorists goes at two point nine percent. Now, 193 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 2: those exact numbers are debatable, but it doesn't matter because 194 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:43,079 Speaker 2: these these are going to be vibes based ones, based 195 00:09:43,080 --> 00:09:45,600 Speaker 2: on how pissed off Trump is at a country. Yeah, 196 00:09:45,640 --> 00:09:48,960 Speaker 2: as Trump is usually a vibes based guy. Yeah, especially 197 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 2: when it comes to the economy, especially when it comes 198 00:09:50,920 --> 00:09:53,800 Speaker 2: to like these numbers he's pulling out like between sixty 199 00:09:53,880 --> 00:09:56,280 Speaker 2: to one hundred percent. He doesn't know what any of 200 00:09:56,320 --> 00:09:58,520 Speaker 2: those numbers means. He's just thinking of a number and 201 00:09:58,600 --> 00:09:59,600 Speaker 2: saying it out loud. 202 00:10:00,080 --> 00:10:03,280 Speaker 3: And the thing about all of these things, right, even 203 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:06,079 Speaker 3: just the base twenty percent, or let's let's go to 204 00:10:06,120 --> 00:10:07,760 Speaker 3: the lowest numbers he's talked about, which is a ten 205 00:10:07,800 --> 00:10:10,560 Speaker 3: percent tariff on all goods and a sixty percent tariff 206 00:10:10,600 --> 00:10:14,880 Speaker 3: on Chinese goods. Right, that in and of itself blows 207 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:18,319 Speaker 3: a smoking crater in the world economy. And none of 208 00:10:18,160 --> 00:10:21,320 Speaker 3: the assessments that you will read are talking about this. 209 00:10:21,840 --> 00:10:23,800 Speaker 3: One of the things that they will mention that is true, 210 00:10:23,840 --> 00:10:26,040 Speaker 3: but they're not, you know, getting to the importance of 211 00:10:26,120 --> 00:10:28,640 Speaker 3: is that this affects stuff that's made in the US. 212 00:10:29,280 --> 00:10:30,920 Speaker 3: Because the thing about things that are made in the 213 00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:33,520 Speaker 3: US is that they're made from components that are from elsewhere, 214 00:10:33,520 --> 00:10:35,520 Speaker 3: because that's how international supply chains work. 215 00:10:35,880 --> 00:10:38,920 Speaker 2: Oh wait, even though we have, through tariffs, moved all 216 00:10:39,240 --> 00:10:42,800 Speaker 2: manufacturing of Toyota into the United States, you're saying that 217 00:10:42,840 --> 00:10:46,640 Speaker 2: still some of the materials are not all solely made 218 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:50,360 Speaker 2: him produced within the country, and it actually requires unfeign trade. Yeah, 219 00:10:50,520 --> 00:10:52,480 Speaker 2: and part of the problem I think of, like, Okay, 220 00:10:52,480 --> 00:10:55,480 Speaker 2: so if you logically think out the conclusions of what 221 00:10:55,520 --> 00:10:58,960 Speaker 2: that means, right, Okay, first mistake, Abia that you're trying 222 00:10:59,000 --> 00:10:59,959 Speaker 2: to solve this problem through. 223 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:03,040 Speaker 3: Well, but here's the thing, right, Obviously Trump is not 224 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:05,719 Speaker 3: going to think through this, right, But I kind of 225 00:11:05,800 --> 00:11:08,600 Speaker 3: expect people who are like writing about this for a 226 00:11:08,640 --> 00:11:10,439 Speaker 3: living to do mildly better than this. 227 00:11:10,640 --> 00:11:12,960 Speaker 2: And possibly some of the people that he like hires 228 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:15,280 Speaker 2: onto his cabinet and team. Maybe, but we'll. 229 00:11:15,120 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 3: Say, you know, I'm not talking about like his critics. 230 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:19,320 Speaker 3: Oh sure, sure, one of the numbers will see all 231 00:11:19,320 --> 00:11:21,679 Speaker 3: the time. The Center for American Progress has this line 232 00:11:21,679 --> 00:11:23,480 Speaker 3: of how the terrofts will function as a tax that 233 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:25,640 Speaker 3: costs the America you conceive for like seventeen hundred dollars 234 00:11:25,679 --> 00:11:26,199 Speaker 3: a year. 235 00:11:26,360 --> 00:11:29,640 Speaker 2: Right, which was the line that Kamala used pretty often. Yeah, 236 00:11:29,679 --> 00:11:31,800 Speaker 2: framing his tariffs as like a sales tax. 237 00:11:32,360 --> 00:11:36,480 Speaker 3: This is fucking horseshit. The only way you can think 238 00:11:36,480 --> 00:11:38,920 Speaker 3: that the net effect of this would just be a 239 00:11:38,920 --> 00:11:41,440 Speaker 3: seventeen hundred dollars tax is if you don't understand how 240 00:11:41,440 --> 00:11:43,120 Speaker 3: the economy works at all. Right, So I went there 241 00:11:43,200 --> 00:11:45,920 Speaker 3: and read this, and the way that they model it 242 00:11:45,960 --> 00:11:48,920 Speaker 3: is just by like they find the like net dollar 243 00:11:49,040 --> 00:11:52,320 Speaker 3: value of imported goods and then apply a tax to it, 244 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:53,800 Speaker 3: and then try to figure out like how much of 245 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:56,400 Speaker 3: those goods that the average person would buy in a year, 246 00:11:56,679 --> 00:11:59,600 Speaker 3: and then increase the price. But and this is something 247 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:01,320 Speaker 3: that's very at the end of the analysis, right right 248 00:12:01,320 --> 00:12:02,920 Speaker 3: at the very end, there's little section where they say 249 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:04,960 Speaker 3: that they assume this would have no other effects on 250 00:12:05,000 --> 00:12:08,480 Speaker 3: the economy. This is unbelievably fucking stupid. I can I 251 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:09,280 Speaker 3: emphasize enough? 252 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:11,920 Speaker 2: Can you explain why that doesn't make any sense? So? Okay, 253 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:12,560 Speaker 2: So here's the thing. 254 00:12:12,640 --> 00:12:16,760 Speaker 3: Right, prices go up, now people can buy less things. 255 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:19,240 Speaker 3: What does that do to the economy, Well, it slows 256 00:12:19,280 --> 00:12:21,640 Speaker 3: its growth rate. Right, companies start to go out of business. 257 00:12:21,640 --> 00:12:23,520 Speaker 3: And we're gonna get me into more of the ways 258 00:12:23,559 --> 00:12:26,200 Speaker 3: that this plays out in a second. Right, But a 259 00:12:26,240 --> 00:12:27,840 Speaker 3: bunch of a bunch of people in a bunch of 260 00:12:27,840 --> 00:12:30,959 Speaker 3: places fucking lose their jobs because suddenly the reduction and 261 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:34,439 Speaker 3: consumer demand means that there's a fucking reduction necessary production. 262 00:12:34,960 --> 00:12:37,960 Speaker 3: And this has cyclical effects throughout the entire economy as 263 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:39,680 Speaker 3: more and more people fucking lose their jobs. 264 00:12:39,760 --> 00:12:41,559 Speaker 2: And also, you know the thing, the thing about those 265 00:12:41,559 --> 00:12:43,480 Speaker 2: people who lose their jobs is that that also fucking 266 00:12:43,520 --> 00:12:46,439 Speaker 2: reduces demand because those people are now even less able 267 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:49,280 Speaker 2: to afford the stuff that's been increased by inflation prices, 268 00:12:49,679 --> 00:12:54,800 Speaker 2: and this this spirals through the entire world economy. In 269 00:12:54,880 --> 00:12:55,319 Speaker 2: order to. 270 00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:57,800 Speaker 3: Understand what exactly this is going to do, I think 271 00:12:57,840 --> 00:13:00,880 Speaker 3: we need to understand why, you know, because like if 272 00:13:00,920 --> 00:13:02,720 Speaker 3: Kamala Harris, I don't know if it makes any difference 273 00:13:02,720 --> 00:13:05,120 Speaker 3: in the election. But Kamala Harris walks of the stage 274 00:13:05,160 --> 00:13:08,240 Speaker 3: and says this is going to cost you seventeen hundred dollars. 275 00:13:08,240 --> 00:13:09,760 Speaker 3: She does not walk on the stage and say this 276 00:13:09,840 --> 00:13:12,599 Speaker 3: is going to cause an economic collapse, right. And I 277 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:15,360 Speaker 3: think the reason that happened is because we've gotten into 278 00:13:15,360 --> 00:13:17,720 Speaker 3: this place where nobody fucking understands how the economy works 279 00:13:17,720 --> 00:13:19,679 Speaker 3: at all, in a way that's even worse than it 280 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:22,240 Speaker 3: was even in like the twenty tens. Like in the 281 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:24,840 Speaker 3: twenty tens, I think people sort of had a vague understanding. 282 00:13:24,960 --> 00:13:27,400 Speaker 3: The thing that was happening to the economy was uberization, 283 00:13:27,480 --> 00:13:29,960 Speaker 3: whatever you call it, was the expansion of gig work. Right, 284 00:13:30,160 --> 00:13:32,319 Speaker 3: There was sort of an understanding and a focus on 285 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:35,160 Speaker 3: the very sort of low level parts of the economy, 286 00:13:35,200 --> 00:13:38,040 Speaker 3: like what are you a poor person doing for your job? 287 00:13:38,240 --> 00:13:39,880 Speaker 2: Right? Does how does your income work? 288 00:13:39,920 --> 00:13:45,040 Speaker 3: And not purely on these sort of like high finance 289 00:13:45,320 --> 00:13:46,960 Speaker 3: or in the case in the case of what's been 290 00:13:46,960 --> 00:13:50,000 Speaker 3: happening here, everyone has been unbelievably completely focused on like 291 00:13:50,520 --> 00:13:54,199 Speaker 3: the Chips Act and like state led industrialization and all 292 00:13:54,240 --> 00:13:56,800 Speaker 3: that stuff is fucking bullshit. It's it basically hasn't done 293 00:13:56,840 --> 00:13:58,520 Speaker 3: anything yet, it's not going to do anything for like 294 00:13:58,520 --> 00:14:01,240 Speaker 3: a decade, and it's not mostly what's going on in 295 00:14:01,240 --> 00:14:04,680 Speaker 3: the economy. I've been holding my tongue on this for years, 296 00:14:05,120 --> 00:14:07,480 Speaker 3: but the people who have been writing about the economy 297 00:14:07,480 --> 00:14:10,080 Speaker 3: don't understand how the fuck it works because they've been 298 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:12,480 Speaker 3: completely myopically obsessed with the idea that we're in this 299 00:14:12,520 --> 00:14:16,640 Speaker 3: new era of state capitalism and no like the actual 300 00:14:16,760 --> 00:14:19,800 Speaker 3: thing that's been happening in the economy. And I think 301 00:14:19,920 --> 00:14:22,800 Speaker 3: if you are like a person who buys stuff, you 302 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:25,120 Speaker 3: probably understand this. But for some reason this has never 303 00:14:25,160 --> 00:14:28,560 Speaker 3: made it to like economists or like people who fucking 304 00:14:28,560 --> 00:14:31,720 Speaker 3: write about the economy for a living. Is consumer to 305 00:14:31,800 --> 00:14:35,360 Speaker 3: manufacturer sales. So this is stuff like Temu. This is 306 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 3: stuff like san who she I mean invented It's a 307 00:14:38,960 --> 00:14:40,520 Speaker 3: strong word, but they're one of the first people who 308 00:14:40,560 --> 00:14:43,200 Speaker 3: sort of popularized this model, right, And this is the 309 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:45,440 Speaker 3: thing where you have a platform that lets people like 310 00:14:45,560 --> 00:14:48,720 Speaker 3: nominally buy directly from the factories or from you know, 311 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:53,280 Speaker 3: the people who are producing fruit, right, And these factories 312 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:57,680 Speaker 3: aren't producing goods until basically either people order the goods 313 00:14:57,800 --> 00:14:59,760 Speaker 3: or like analytics tells them to order it, so they 314 00:14:59,760 --> 00:15:02,960 Speaker 3: don't have a lot of the problems that other kind 315 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:05,000 Speaker 3: of like distribution bottels have. For you have a bunch 316 00:15:05,000 --> 00:15:06,920 Speaker 3: of good sitting in a warehouse, like, you just don't 317 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:09,240 Speaker 3: have that because you don't start production until your sort 318 00:15:09,240 --> 00:15:09,800 Speaker 3: of orders. 319 00:15:09,640 --> 00:15:11,520 Speaker 2: Come in, your analytics come in. And the theory here 320 00:15:11,560 --> 00:15:13,920 Speaker 2: is you can reduce costs by eliminating the middleman. But 321 00:15:13,960 --> 00:15:16,520 Speaker 2: of course a new kind of middleman emerged, and that 322 00:15:16,680 --> 00:15:21,360 Speaker 2: is the drop shipper god. So the drop shipper is 323 00:15:21,680 --> 00:15:25,440 Speaker 2: just someone using the consumer to manufacturer pipeline right the 324 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:28,280 Speaker 2: platforms that are supposed to let you the consumer sort 325 00:15:28,320 --> 00:15:30,000 Speaker 2: of just like buy directly from the thing and cut 326 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:33,760 Speaker 2: out milmen. It's just someone doing that but then turning 327 00:15:33,760 --> 00:15:37,080 Speaker 2: around and selling you the result. And this has become 328 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 2: just utterly fucking ubiquitous in the American economy. It's sort 329 00:15:40,520 --> 00:15:43,040 Speaker 2: of like an integral part of the American scam economy 330 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:46,040 Speaker 2: now too, as the American economy has been increasingly sort 331 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:48,560 Speaker 2: of riddled and consumed by scams and riddled and consumed 332 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:52,120 Speaker 2: by sort of like people trying to capitalize on like 333 00:15:52,200 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 2: some fucking meme or some political thing. 334 00:15:54,160 --> 00:15:55,520 Speaker 3: You know, you have all these people doing like drop 335 00:15:55,520 --> 00:15:57,760 Speaker 3: ship t shirts right where they can immediately come in 336 00:15:57,960 --> 00:15:59,960 Speaker 3: and sell all of this stuff. 337 00:16:00,040 --> 00:16:03,160 Speaker 2: These like short lived like trend meme based either like 338 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:05,960 Speaker 2: fashion or even like goods. You know, you can talk 339 00:16:05,960 --> 00:16:09,080 Speaker 2: about like the amount of like content creator merch that 340 00:16:09,240 --> 00:16:11,680 Speaker 2: is all funneled through these like drop shipping companies. 341 00:16:11,840 --> 00:16:14,040 Speaker 3: Yeah, and it's also what's been It's a thing that's 342 00:16:14,160 --> 00:16:16,400 Speaker 3: enabled like fast fashion to function. 343 00:16:16,200 --> 00:16:18,640 Speaker 2: In the way that it is right now, right absolutely. 344 00:16:18,200 --> 00:16:22,240 Speaker 3: And this has become what consumption is in large swaths 345 00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:24,440 Speaker 3: of the world is from this sort of like direct 346 00:16:24,440 --> 00:16:27,120 Speaker 3: to consumer drop shipping shit, right. 347 00:16:27,400 --> 00:16:27,680 Speaker 2: Yeah. 348 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:30,040 Speaker 3: Now, the thing about about these drop shipping things is 349 00:16:30,040 --> 00:16:33,080 Speaker 3: that their profit margins are really really low. They don't 350 00:16:33,120 --> 00:16:34,800 Speaker 3: make that much money, and in fact, a lot of 351 00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:37,600 Speaker 3: these things like hemorrhage money until they've basically you know, 352 00:16:37,720 --> 00:16:39,440 Speaker 3: they do the thing that Amazon did, right, where like 353 00:16:39,480 --> 00:16:41,320 Speaker 3: you lose money for a million years, but then eventually 354 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:43,120 Speaker 3: you have enough market chourney you start making money again. 355 00:16:43,240 --> 00:16:45,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, because you make it so all your competitors basically 356 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:47,960 Speaker 2: can't function because you have prices that are so low. 357 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:49,800 Speaker 2: And then when you're the only one in the game 358 00:16:50,200 --> 00:16:53,360 Speaker 2: with a sizeable power influence, you can raise prices and 359 00:16:53,400 --> 00:16:55,840 Speaker 2: then you make tons of money. Also the Uber model, 360 00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:59,080 Speaker 2: although Uber still is improfitable. Yeah well so yeah, Uber 361 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:00,240 Speaker 2: will never make any money. Right. 362 00:17:00,720 --> 00:17:03,360 Speaker 3: But the other thing here that's important is that, you know, 363 00:17:03,360 --> 00:17:06,360 Speaker 3: so the margins of a company like Temu, right, which 364 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:08,840 Speaker 3: is like probably the biggest of these sort of companies. 365 00:17:08,440 --> 00:17:11,919 Speaker 2: Now, are low. But Tamu technically has tech money, Like 366 00:17:11,960 --> 00:17:14,280 Speaker 2: they have money to back them up. Right, you know, 367 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:17,520 Speaker 2: who doesn't have an unbelievable amount of just like capital 368 00:17:17,560 --> 00:17:19,399 Speaker 2: sitting around that they could just instantly pull from if 369 00:17:19,400 --> 00:17:21,560 Speaker 2: suddenly there is I don't know, a sixty percent fucking 370 00:17:21,600 --> 00:17:24,960 Speaker 2: price shock. Oh wait, it's all of the fucking manufacturing 371 00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:28,280 Speaker 2: you know, like tiny manufacturing firms that these drop shipping 372 00:17:28,280 --> 00:17:30,520 Speaker 2: things use to produce all their stuff. Right. 373 00:17:30,680 --> 00:17:34,720 Speaker 3: That infrastructure is very fragile. It's it's margins are very bad. 374 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:37,840 Speaker 3: And oh guess what happens to that shit if you 375 00:17:37,880 --> 00:17:39,320 Speaker 3: impose sixty percent terraces on it? 376 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:42,000 Speaker 2: Right, it just shuts down because that's the easiest option, right. 377 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:44,240 Speaker 3: Yeah, And you know, and presumably I think one of 378 00:17:44,280 --> 00:17:46,399 Speaker 3: the other parts of this would be part of the 379 00:17:46,440 --> 00:17:48,280 Speaker 3: reason that this has been happening is that all of 380 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:51,359 Speaker 3: this office are being imported like under terriff loopholes, but 381 00:17:51,520 --> 00:17:55,600 Speaker 3: like that loopholes not hard to close, right. 382 00:17:55,600 --> 00:17:58,800 Speaker 2: What terraf loopholes are you referring to? Oh yeah, so 383 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:00,440 Speaker 2: I talked about this the ten we episod. So those 384 00:18:00,480 --> 00:18:03,720 Speaker 2: loopholes on American teriffs were like, if you're bringing stuff 385 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:06,919 Speaker 2: into the country that's below a certain value, it has 386 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:08,919 Speaker 2: to be above like a six hundred dollars something to 387 00:18:08,960 --> 00:18:13,639 Speaker 2: like trigger a threshold to like activate the teriffs applying 388 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:15,800 Speaker 2: to it. So people just ship a bunch of like 389 00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:19,879 Speaker 2: one billion boxes individually that are like five hundred and 390 00:18:19,960 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 2: ninety nine dollars to go under the thing. So you're saying, 391 00:18:23,800 --> 00:18:26,520 Speaker 2: I can still maybe buy my new Sonic the Hedgehog 392 00:18:26,960 --> 00:18:29,600 Speaker 2: PS five game though, that should be fine. I'll be 393 00:18:29,680 --> 00:18:31,919 Speaker 2: totally good. Oh god, okay. 394 00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,359 Speaker 3: So the other part of this that's important, right, So 395 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:36,359 Speaker 3: this is the kind of I don't know if news 396 00:18:36,400 --> 00:18:37,960 Speaker 3: the right word, but this is the kind of recent 397 00:18:38,000 --> 00:18:41,360 Speaker 3: part of the economy that's incredibly dependent on Chinese supply chains, right, 398 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:44,960 Speaker 3: that gets just liquefied if these terrorifts go through. These 399 00:18:44,960 --> 00:18:48,679 Speaker 3: are enormous companies that you know are going to just 400 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:51,840 Speaker 3: eat shit and those companies eating shit have the sort 401 00:18:51,840 --> 00:18:53,480 Speaker 3: of effects we talked about earlier, right, which is it 402 00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:56,399 Speaker 3: caused people to get fired, it causes growth collapses, it 403 00:18:56,440 --> 00:19:00,199 Speaker 3: causes cyclical decreases in people's ability to buy thing, and 404 00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:03,480 Speaker 3: then also like demand decreases because people can't buy things. 405 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:07,280 Speaker 2: But this is like the new school supply chain stuff. Right. 406 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:11,240 Speaker 3: Temu's a product of really the last six or seven years, 407 00:19:11,600 --> 00:19:13,520 Speaker 3: and it really only functions the way it does now 408 00:19:13,520 --> 00:19:17,440 Speaker 3: in last about four but the previous two eras supply 409 00:19:17,520 --> 00:19:19,880 Speaker 3: and logistics, right, which is sort of Walmart and Amazon 410 00:19:20,119 --> 00:19:23,040 Speaker 3: are both also almost completely dependent or Chinese supply chains. 411 00:19:23,119 --> 00:19:23,239 Speaker 2: Right. 412 00:19:23,320 --> 00:19:25,960 Speaker 3: Yeah, there's a good JD super article which is they're 413 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:29,880 Speaker 3: like a business intelligence website, right. You know, it talks 414 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:32,680 Speaker 3: about how Walmart imports seventy percent of all of it's 415 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:33,399 Speaker 3: goods from China. 416 00:19:33,840 --> 00:19:37,760 Speaker 2: Yeah, that tracks seventy percent seven zero, right. And the 417 00:19:37,800 --> 00:19:40,520 Speaker 2: reason that it works like this is because Walmart's entire 418 00:19:40,560 --> 00:19:43,400 Speaker 2: business model, all of their supply chains, all of their logistics, 419 00:19:43,760 --> 00:19:46,960 Speaker 2: everything that they do, right, was designed basically hand in 420 00:19:47,040 --> 00:19:50,639 Speaker 2: hand to be integrated into Chinese economic production. And you 421 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:53,320 Speaker 2: can't just move that shit instantly. Right. 422 00:19:53,359 --> 00:19:55,520 Speaker 3: And this is also true, something like Amazon right, where 423 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:58,119 Speaker 3: Amazon like sixty three percent of independent sellers on Amazon 424 00:19:58,240 --> 00:20:01,240 Speaker 3: this is from the same source are Chinese. Right, So 425 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:05,600 Speaker 3: what you're dealing with is vast parts of the American economy, right, 426 00:20:05,680 --> 00:20:08,399 Speaker 3: the parts of the American economy that you interface to 427 00:20:08,480 --> 00:20:13,000 Speaker 3: buy things are based on goods that are suddenly going 428 00:20:13,040 --> 00:20:15,439 Speaker 3: to have like sixty to one hundred percent tariff stapled 429 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:18,960 Speaker 3: onto them. Now, the thing that people have been talking 430 00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:21,480 Speaker 3: about as the like, oh well, here's the thing that 431 00:20:21,480 --> 00:20:24,080 Speaker 3: will happen instead instead like instead of the thing that's 432 00:20:24,119 --> 00:20:26,879 Speaker 3: pretty obviously going to happen if this happens, which is 433 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:29,560 Speaker 3: just the decount of bubble we're in pops and everything 434 00:20:29,560 --> 00:20:32,160 Speaker 3: starts to go to shit, people have been like, oh, well, 435 00:20:32,160 --> 00:20:35,639 Speaker 3: this will just accelerate the shift of production of goods 436 00:20:35,680 --> 00:20:39,040 Speaker 3: out from China. And like I've been talking about this 437 00:20:39,040 --> 00:20:41,919 Speaker 3: for like a fucking decade, right, Like the journal Chwung 438 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:43,879 Speaker 3: is something that I talk about a lot that I record. 439 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:46,200 Speaker 3: People really has been talking about this for literally ages 440 00:20:46,240 --> 00:20:49,479 Speaker 3: and ages and ages. So people have been trying to 441 00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:52,199 Speaker 3: move production out of China for ages. I mean, like 442 00:20:52,240 --> 00:20:53,679 Speaker 3: one of the first big attempts to do this was 443 00:20:53,680 --> 00:20:56,119 Speaker 3: in twenty eleven when there is there's a series of 444 00:20:56,160 --> 00:20:59,199 Speaker 3: riots in China and people tried to move production of 445 00:20:59,280 --> 00:21:01,199 Speaker 3: goods out of and they couldn't do it. And the 446 00:21:01,240 --> 00:21:03,679 Speaker 3: reason that they couldn't do it was because you have 447 00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:06,520 Speaker 3: to find a country that has both like a relatively 448 00:21:06,560 --> 00:21:10,320 Speaker 3: skilled and educated labor force and also has the infrastructure 449 00:21:10,720 --> 00:21:14,080 Speaker 3: to be able to like match Chinese production. And so 450 00:21:14,160 --> 00:21:15,720 Speaker 3: I mean they we're talking about things like they have 451 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:19,880 Speaker 3: to have like a functioning electrical grid that is stable enough. 452 00:21:19,680 --> 00:21:20,600 Speaker 2: For production to function. 453 00:21:20,640 --> 00:21:22,879 Speaker 3: And this rules out an enormous number of countries and 454 00:21:23,000 --> 00:21:26,160 Speaker 3: it's it's just really really hard. And yeah, like Chinese 455 00:21:26,240 --> 00:21:28,160 Speaker 3: capital has been moving away from its sort of old 456 00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:29,640 Speaker 3: centers and the prop of delta to. 457 00:21:30,359 --> 00:21:31,360 Speaker 2: Places like Vietnam. 458 00:21:31,560 --> 00:21:34,199 Speaker 3: Right, But and this is the fucking big one, right, 459 00:21:34,480 --> 00:21:36,240 Speaker 3: A lot of a lot of what's been happening for 460 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:37,840 Speaker 3: the people have been talking about this thing called quote 461 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:40,840 Speaker 3: quote unquote decoupling, which is which is the separation of 462 00:21:40,880 --> 00:21:42,760 Speaker 3: the US and Chinese economy so that they're not like 463 00:21:42,880 --> 00:21:45,800 Speaker 3: they're trying with each other. People think this is good 464 00:21:45,880 --> 00:21:48,399 Speaker 3: for ideological reasons, or they think it's just something that's happening, 465 00:21:48,400 --> 00:21:50,960 Speaker 3: and it's not it's not happening. You know what else 466 00:21:51,040 --> 00:21:54,639 Speaker 3: isn't happening. It's us not plugging these products and services. 467 00:21:54,720 --> 00:21:56,960 Speaker 2: I think we do legally have to plug them. So 468 00:21:57,080 --> 00:22:00,840 Speaker 2: here they are. Here's the plugs for the products end services. 469 00:22:10,480 --> 00:22:12,960 Speaker 3: All right, now that you've decoupled yourself from your money 470 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:14,760 Speaker 3: to buy these products and services, let's let's talk a 471 00:22:14,760 --> 00:22:17,840 Speaker 3: little bit more about why decoupling is fucking bullshit. One, 472 00:22:17,960 --> 00:22:19,440 Speaker 3: and I've been to something I've been saying on the 473 00:22:19,440 --> 00:22:23,040 Speaker 3: show for years, like people have this sort of fantasy 474 00:22:23,080 --> 00:22:26,280 Speaker 3: that what's happening is that, Okay, instead of making your 475 00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:28,199 Speaker 3: thing in China, you make your thing somewhere else. And 476 00:22:28,200 --> 00:22:30,359 Speaker 3: this means that American companies no longer have the supply 477 00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:33,160 Speaker 3: change running through China. That's not what's happening at all. 478 00:22:33,320 --> 00:22:35,760 Speaker 3: On the financial front, what you have is actually increasing 479 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:39,040 Speaker 3: integration as China attempts to sort of like you know, 480 00:22:39,320 --> 00:22:42,200 Speaker 3: has been lifting restrictions on the ownership of different types 481 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:44,720 Speaker 3: of corporations to make it easier for foreign owners to 482 00:22:44,760 --> 00:22:46,840 Speaker 3: actually come in and invest and put capital in China. 483 00:22:46,960 --> 00:22:47,120 Speaker 2: Right. 484 00:22:47,400 --> 00:22:49,000 Speaker 3: The second thing that's happening is a lot of these 485 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:51,160 Speaker 3: supposedly like we're cutting China out of the supply chain. 486 00:22:51,200 --> 00:22:54,040 Speaker 3: Things have been a bunch of Chinese companies starts starting 487 00:22:54,040 --> 00:22:57,239 Speaker 3: to set up production in Mexico. Now, the thing about that, right, 488 00:22:57,280 --> 00:22:59,879 Speaker 3: if Mexico was supposed to be the fucking panacea forgetting 489 00:22:59,880 --> 00:23:03,320 Speaker 3: it out of these tariffs, remember that Trump was talking 490 00:23:03,320 --> 00:23:06,200 Speaker 3: about two hundred percent tariffs on Mexico, and that's the 491 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,320 Speaker 3: country that's supposed to like fucking get us out of 492 00:23:08,359 --> 00:23:10,479 Speaker 3: this mess by like, Oh, we'll be fine because like 493 00:23:10,920 --> 00:23:12,720 Speaker 3: production will just shift away from China to like to 494 00:23:12,800 --> 00:23:15,560 Speaker 3: where like a lot of a lot of the assumptions 495 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:16,919 Speaker 3: I was reading was like people were talking about, oh, 496 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:18,679 Speaker 3: the production will like twenty five percent of production will like. 497 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:20,359 Speaker 2: Shift to Canada. It's like, no, it won't. 498 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:22,800 Speaker 3: Just Canada doesn't have the fucking production facilities to do 499 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:24,760 Speaker 3: They're like, what are you talking about, Like. 500 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:28,080 Speaker 2: Canada doesn't have the population to do that. No, it doesn't. 501 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:30,560 Speaker 2: This is this sort of problem, right, you know. 502 00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:32,560 Speaker 3: On the one hand, you know, China has been de 503 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:35,960 Speaker 3: industrializing for like a decade and a half now, right 504 00:23:36,400 --> 00:23:38,200 Speaker 3: and kind of slowly, but there's the percentage of the 505 00:23:38,200 --> 00:23:41,159 Speaker 3: population that's working in manufacturing has been steadily decreasing for 506 00:23:41,280 --> 00:23:44,040 Speaker 3: years and years and years and years. But the problem 507 00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:47,760 Speaker 3: is that when you move production out of a place, 508 00:23:47,800 --> 00:23:50,040 Speaker 3: you actually have to have a second place to produce it, 509 00:23:50,680 --> 00:23:53,359 Speaker 3: and there just haven't been right like you, it's it's 510 00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:55,600 Speaker 3: pretty easy to move low end manufacturing. This is what's 511 00:23:55,600 --> 00:23:58,280 Speaker 3: been happening, right, Like really cheap garment stuff, for example, 512 00:23:58,320 --> 00:23:59,560 Speaker 3: has been has a moving to places like. 513 00:23:59,520 --> 00:24:02,000 Speaker 2: Bangald in Vietnam for a while. But once you start 514 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:04,080 Speaker 2: getting into the stuff that China produces like the most 515 00:24:04,119 --> 00:24:06,960 Speaker 2: of right, which is things like fucking cell phones, sort 516 00:24:07,000 --> 00:24:10,280 Speaker 2: of mid tier commodity production that gets way way, way, 517 00:24:10,280 --> 00:24:12,720 Speaker 2: way way harder. No, but the Chips Act will save us. Me. 518 00:24:12,960 --> 00:24:15,560 Speaker 2: I heard it from everyone on the television. I just 519 00:24:15,600 --> 00:24:16,120 Speaker 2: got this. 520 00:24:16,119 --> 00:24:17,800 Speaker 3: This is the sort of thing about this, right is 521 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:19,760 Speaker 3: if you look, if you read the analysis that people 522 00:24:19,760 --> 00:24:21,399 Speaker 3: are doing of this, they just sort of assume that 523 00:24:21,440 --> 00:24:25,280 Speaker 3: you can just like, oh well, like naturally a bunch 524 00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:27,679 Speaker 3: of the consumption that Americans are doing will stay the 525 00:24:27,720 --> 00:24:29,960 Speaker 3: same because they'll go buy goods that aren't produced in China. 526 00:24:29,960 --> 00:24:32,680 Speaker 3: It's like, okay, like where where are you finding these 527 00:24:32,800 --> 00:24:35,919 Speaker 3: goods from? Like what production facilities are you? Just like 528 00:24:35,960 --> 00:24:38,400 Speaker 3: suddenly that have just been like sitting there fallow are 529 00:24:38,400 --> 00:24:41,600 Speaker 3: just suddenly gonna like a peer out of nowhere, And 530 00:24:41,720 --> 00:24:44,359 Speaker 3: the answer is like, that's not gonna happen, And it's not. 531 00:24:44,400 --> 00:24:46,160 Speaker 3: It's not going to happen, partially because they don't exist. 532 00:24:46,280 --> 00:24:50,119 Speaker 3: Partially because again, the immediate consequence of this is a 533 00:24:50,119 --> 00:24:53,119 Speaker 3: massive economic labs. China's economy has already been slowing for 534 00:24:53,160 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 3: the like basically, I mean it's been slowing. 535 00:24:55,000 --> 00:24:58,080 Speaker 2: Since like two thousand and eight. Really wow, I see. 536 00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:00,879 Speaker 3: That's an eleven kind of but it's especially been slowing 537 00:25:00,880 --> 00:25:02,520 Speaker 3: in the past two or three years because of sort 538 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:05,639 Speaker 3: of cover restriction stuff and also just a kind of 539 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:09,679 Speaker 3: lackluster rate of returns on their own like they had 540 00:25:09,720 --> 00:25:11,520 Speaker 3: their own version of the two thousand and eight housing 541 00:25:11,520 --> 00:25:15,680 Speaker 3: bubble and that's annihilated and an unbelievable amount of money 542 00:25:15,720 --> 00:25:18,640 Speaker 3: because it turns out investing in real estate doesn't work 543 00:25:19,440 --> 00:25:21,480 Speaker 3: as his basis for your economy. But like that's the thing, right, 544 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:24,159 Speaker 3: If the Chinese economy fucking goes down, right, that's like 545 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:27,679 Speaker 3: that's seventeen percent of the world's GDP. Seventeen yeah, of 546 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:31,440 Speaker 3: the total GDP, right, And it's like the economy isn't 547 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:35,040 Speaker 3: national in a way where you can have an economic 548 00:25:35,080 --> 00:25:37,840 Speaker 3: collapse in another country, in just a country that's that 549 00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:39,520 Speaker 3: large and ignore it. And the thing I want to 550 00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:41,280 Speaker 3: close on, and the reason we know that this is 551 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:45,040 Speaker 3: true is that it is actually possible kind of to 552 00:25:45,359 --> 00:25:48,439 Speaker 3: restart america domestic manufacturing, right. Reagan was able to do 553 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:50,280 Speaker 3: it in the eighties. And Reagan did it through this 554 00:25:50,320 --> 00:25:55,000 Speaker 3: thing called the Plaza Accords where he basically he didn't 555 00:25:55,240 --> 00:25:58,320 Speaker 3: literally put the prime ministers of Japan and West Germany 556 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,520 Speaker 3: at gunpoint, but he basically put them at gunpoint and 557 00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,040 Speaker 3: force them to increase the value of their currencies so 558 00:26:04,080 --> 00:26:06,280 Speaker 3: that the US currency would devalue, which would admit which 559 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:09,480 Speaker 3: makes it like a more competitive export economy. And this 560 00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:12,359 Speaker 3: actually brought back American manufacturing for a while until it 561 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:14,879 Speaker 3: had to all be reversed under the Clinton administration and 562 00:26:14,920 --> 00:26:18,000 Speaker 3: the reverse Plaza Accords, because the problem was when you 563 00:26:18,000 --> 00:26:20,840 Speaker 3: sort of nuked the zero sum manufacturing of a country 564 00:26:20,880 --> 00:26:24,520 Speaker 3: like Japan, their fucking economy didn't work anymore. And in 565 00:26:24,640 --> 00:26:26,760 Speaker 3: order to sort of bail out the Japanese economy and 566 00:26:26,760 --> 00:26:29,320 Speaker 3: stop just a sort of world running economic collapse, it 567 00:26:29,359 --> 00:26:31,920 Speaker 3: would have just like tore the absolute shit out of 568 00:26:31,960 --> 00:26:34,520 Speaker 3: the economy. The US had to fucking reincrease the value 569 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:36,560 Speaker 3: of its currency and lose its whole domestic production base. 570 00:26:36,720 --> 00:26:39,760 Speaker 2: Right. You can't actually increase a production base in the 571 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:42,359 Speaker 2: world right now without decreasing it somewhere else, and that 572 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:45,720 Speaker 2: has sort of staggering ripple economic effects for the entire 573 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:49,719 Speaker 2: global economy, which is why even if Trump's plan worked 574 00:26:49,760 --> 00:26:53,719 Speaker 2: somehow and didn't immediately cause an economic collapse by like 575 00:26:53,880 --> 00:26:56,200 Speaker 2: the direct effect on American consumers, it would cause another 576 00:26:56,200 --> 00:26:59,320 Speaker 2: economic collapse by the effect on fucking people in China. 577 00:26:59,760 --> 00:27:03,480 Speaker 2: So well, Mia, I think you might be overreacting here 578 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:07,879 Speaker 2: a little bit, because at least food will be available, obviously, 579 00:27:08,240 --> 00:27:11,000 Speaker 2: and I learned this on X My main source for 580 00:27:11,080 --> 00:27:14,800 Speaker 2: news is that agriculture almost all done in the States, 581 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:17,720 Speaker 2: so we should be fine, Like, we'll still be able 582 00:27:17,760 --> 00:27:20,600 Speaker 2: to eat food, right, I say, staring. 583 00:27:20,440 --> 00:27:24,000 Speaker 3: No to the voice, No, you can't, because, unfortunately, think 584 00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:27,199 Speaker 3: about American agricultures. It's all fucking mechanized agriculture. The thing 585 00:27:27,280 --> 00:27:31,040 Speaker 3: about mechanized agriculture is that you need the mechanized part, 586 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:34,640 Speaker 3: and that's all fucking produced either in other countries or 587 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:38,560 Speaker 3: the John Deere fucking like, tractor factories in the US 588 00:27:39,119 --> 00:27:42,040 Speaker 3: are all unbelievably reliant on a bunch of parts that 589 00:27:42,080 --> 00:27:42,920 Speaker 3: are made overseas. 590 00:27:43,600 --> 00:27:47,280 Speaker 2: So also, we do import a great deal of food, 591 00:27:47,359 --> 00:27:51,359 Speaker 2: well we do. Yeah, even just talking about the food 592 00:27:51,400 --> 00:27:54,280 Speaker 2: that we produce here, right, Like, that's also gonna be fun. 593 00:27:54,320 --> 00:27:57,640 Speaker 2: I wonder, I wonder where your strawberries in November are 594 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:02,600 Speaker 2: coming from. I think the other thing to keep in 595 00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:05,640 Speaker 2: mind here is that this is only one aspect of 596 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:10,000 Speaker 2: how Trump will impact the economy. Obviously, his immigration policies 597 00:28:10,040 --> 00:28:15,320 Speaker 2: could serve a similarly large financial problem if a whole 598 00:28:15,320 --> 00:28:19,520 Speaker 2: bunch of agricultural jobs suddenly kind of vanish, and farms 599 00:28:19,560 --> 00:28:21,879 Speaker 2: and other processing plants just to go out of business 600 00:28:22,000 --> 00:28:24,960 Speaker 2: due to a lack of workers. And even some people 601 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:28,960 Speaker 2: on Trump's team have started to acknowledge this, mostly Elon Musk, 602 00:28:29,000 --> 00:28:33,000 Speaker 2: who has openly said that Trump's term will involve some 603 00:28:33,119 --> 00:28:38,640 Speaker 2: quote temporary hardship, so between tariffs and mass deportations. Like, 604 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:41,120 Speaker 2: even people on his team know that this is going 605 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:44,200 Speaker 2: to damage the economy, especially in the short term, if 606 00:28:44,240 --> 00:28:47,520 Speaker 2: not the like forever term. Yeah, and yet he was 607 00:28:47,560 --> 00:28:50,480 Speaker 2: still elected as the economically viable candidate. 608 00:28:51,200 --> 00:28:53,000 Speaker 3: Yeah, and I think the last part we should say, 609 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:56,000 Speaker 3: and this is it's not that you can't like fucking 610 00:28:56,160 --> 00:28:58,680 Speaker 3: obliterate a giant portion of the American economy is still 611 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:01,320 Speaker 3: come out extremely popular because because you've crushed the American 612 00:29:01,360 --> 00:29:04,320 Speaker 3: working class like that, that's what Reagan did, right, Like 613 00:29:04,400 --> 00:29:07,400 Speaker 3: Reagan and the Vulgar Shocks did this enormous. I mean, 614 00:29:07,560 --> 00:29:11,240 Speaker 3: just put a crater in the American economy in Reagan's 615 00:29:11,240 --> 00:29:15,560 Speaker 3: first term, Like there's skyrocketing unemployment, just like real, real 616 00:29:15,640 --> 00:29:18,560 Speaker 3: sort of economic devastation. But the thing about the Vulgar 617 00:29:18,640 --> 00:29:22,120 Speaker 3: Shock was that the way he blew up the economy 618 00:29:22,200 --> 00:29:25,160 Speaker 3: was really really good for people who like fucking owned assets, 619 00:29:25,320 --> 00:29:28,640 Speaker 3: like people who like owned bonds, like people like people 620 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:32,080 Speaker 3: who held other people's debt. He was great for those people. 621 00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:34,760 Speaker 2: And like the burgeoning investment economy which now kind of 622 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:37,520 Speaker 2: dominates our entire economic system. Yeah, and it was incredible 623 00:29:37,520 --> 00:29:38,760 Speaker 2: for those people. And so it was fine. 624 00:29:38,760 --> 00:29:40,680 Speaker 3: But the think about this economic collapse that this is 625 00:29:40,920 --> 00:29:43,920 Speaker 3: also going to just absolutely fuck up the days of 626 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:48,600 Speaker 3: a bunch of extremely wealthy and influential capitalists. So including 627 00:29:48,640 --> 00:29:52,240 Speaker 3: by the way, Elon Musk, who's Tesla's are produced. 628 00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:55,520 Speaker 2: In China, like he has a gigafactory. He's a gigafactory 629 00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:57,760 Speaker 2: in shing John. So we'll see if Trump actually is 630 00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:00,400 Speaker 2: able to implement this stuff. I think he able to 631 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:02,960 Speaker 2: on a policy level. It's just politically, can he actually 632 00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:05,640 Speaker 2: do these tariffs? Yeah, it's it's it's unclear. It's also 633 00:30:05,720 --> 00:30:07,680 Speaker 2: unclear what exact numbers he's gonna run with. A ten 634 00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:10,760 Speaker 2: percent tariff will still be bad, but it's nothing compared 635 00:30:10,800 --> 00:30:13,520 Speaker 2: to one hundred percent tariff. I think Trump by and 636 00:30:13,600 --> 00:30:16,040 Speaker 2: large just says whatever comes into his head without thinking 637 00:30:16,080 --> 00:30:19,200 Speaker 2: through the actual logistical ends of what he's saying. And 638 00:30:19,240 --> 00:30:22,480 Speaker 2: I think most Trump's supporters do not take him literally 639 00:30:22,520 --> 00:30:24,719 Speaker 2: as a person, at least they don't take what he 640 00:30:24,760 --> 00:30:28,360 Speaker 2: says necessarily literally all the time. They take him seriously, 641 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:29,600 Speaker 2: but perhaps not literally. 642 00:30:30,320 --> 00:30:33,680 Speaker 3: Yeah, so we'll have to see how this actually plays out. 643 00:30:33,720 --> 00:30:36,560 Speaker 3: If it does play out in the ways that Trump 644 00:30:36,600 --> 00:30:38,160 Speaker 3: has said that it is going to play out, it 645 00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:43,640 Speaker 3: is going to just unbelievably tank the economy in ways 646 00:30:43,680 --> 00:30:49,200 Speaker 3: that absolutely suck. So, yeah, that's that's happening here in 647 00:30:49,360 --> 00:30:52,320 Speaker 3: the future. Maybe that's the name of the podcast, right. 648 00:30:52,480 --> 00:30:55,680 Speaker 2: So stock up on your PS fives now. Before they 649 00:30:55,720 --> 00:30:58,920 Speaker 2: get harder to buy, and it'll be fine, Yeah, they'll 650 00:30:58,920 --> 00:31:01,680 Speaker 2: be There'll be nothing bad that happens to the economy 651 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:03,840 Speaker 2: as long as you have your PS fives. Yeah. 652 00:31:04,000 --> 00:31:06,240 Speaker 3: People always want fucking books to the end of episodes, 653 00:31:06,240 --> 00:31:08,000 Speaker 3: so I'm just putting books at the end of episodes. 654 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:12,920 Speaker 3: This is my plugging Chwang Chua Andng. We'll help, We'll 655 00:31:12,920 --> 00:31:14,560 Speaker 3: put it in the description. It's a bunch of stuff 656 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:17,800 Speaker 3: about Chinese economics. Mostly it's a sort of economic history 657 00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:20,960 Speaker 3: of visionally the socialist period and the transition to capitalism. 658 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:23,840 Speaker 3: But it also has a bunch of very very good stuff. 659 00:31:23,840 --> 00:31:25,760 Speaker 3: I'm trying to understand the Chinese economy. And so if 660 00:31:25,800 --> 00:31:28,080 Speaker 3: you want to be about ten years ahead of like 661 00:31:28,520 --> 00:31:31,320 Speaker 3: guys you write for the economists, if you read Chwang, 662 00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:33,240 Speaker 3: you will end up being like ten years ahead of 663 00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:33,760 Speaker 3: those guys. 664 00:31:34,080 --> 00:31:36,560 Speaker 2: So yeah, great stuff. 665 00:31:41,840 --> 00:31:44,360 Speaker 1: It could happen here is a production of cool Zone Media. 666 00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:47,600 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from cool Zone Media, visit our website 667 00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:50,240 Speaker 1: cool Zonemedia dot com, or check us out on the 668 00:31:50,240 --> 00:31:54,200 Speaker 1: iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts. 669 00:31:54,640 --> 00:31:56,560 Speaker 1: You can now find sources for it could Happen here. 670 00:31:56,600 --> 00:31:59,560 Speaker 1: Listed directly in episode descriptions. Thanks for listening,