Hey what do you want to know about tariffs, this economy rn, and...everything? hmu and we'll see if we can answer it on the air.
Replies
Are there any "too big to fail" entities that are affected by this either tangentially or directly?
apr 7, 2025, 7:09 pm • 0 0 • view
Let’a assume Canada and Mexico/South America can hold out long enough to make it hurt bad. How long will it take for our “market” to reset to a more American-centered model? Will this happen in time for American farmers to stay solvent?
apr 7, 2025, 6:28 pm • 0 0 • view
How do you pronoun PANICAN? pani-KAHN or PANI-can?
apr 7, 2025, 7:24 pm • 1 0 • view
Realistically how long can we expect the US dollar to remain the world’s currency when it appears that we are ceding that to the EU. And the more complicated question for those of us here in the US - what then?
apr 7, 2025, 6:30 pm • 12 0 • view
Is there a primer on how a tariff goes from prop at a speech to someone getting a receipt? Like is there a memo sent to import locations or …? And do the tariffs apply to things that were already shipped but not yet through customs?
apr 7, 2025, 8:47 pm • 1 0 • view
Kai has covered this already. Yes, tariffs apply to things ordered but not yet through customs. They are taxed upon arrival. And he often has a guest on who is a person who monitors tariff policy and advises her client companies how and when to comply. I recommend listening to Marketplace every day.
apr 7, 2025, 10:04 pm • 2 0 • view
Thank you! I can’t listen every day but this is the place to find out.
apr 8, 2025, 2:48 am • 1 0 • view
Did you hear Marketplace yesterday where Kai covered FTZs? Fascinating...
apr 29, 2025, 3:12 pm • 3 0 • view
What’s the timeframe for various industries to onshore manufacturing if they started this month? Implied question: how likely are they to do so given the uncertainty inherent in Trump’s whims?
apr 7, 2025, 6:31 pm • 1 0 • view
Can I impose tariffs on the paramedics? I mean, they never purchase emergency medical rescue services from me, so that’s unfair, right?
apr 7, 2025, 6:35 pm • 1 0 • view
If nothing changes (i.e. he keeps all the tariffs and possibly even adds more) won't the market just keep tanking?
apr 7, 2025, 6:51 pm • 1 0 • view
When will unemployment numbers and other indicators catch up and show the carnage?
apr 8, 2025, 12:45 pm • 1 0 • view
Yes, this. I’m self employed and am taking a big hit - how is someone like me counted?
apr 8, 2025, 12:59 pm • 2 0 • view
Are there any existing laws that can rein this in? What about the existing trade agreements that this is flying in the face of?
apr 7, 2025, 7:15 pm • 0 0 • view
The one thing I know about tariffs is that in Ferris Bueller's Day Off the teacher says that the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act didn't work. But that word "act" suggests it was an actual law. How come it used to be congress's domain and now one guy can just flip the economy-ruiner switch on his own?
apr 7, 2025, 6:45 pm • 3 0 • view
How about the best way to invest our money to stabilize it against the incoming inflation
apr 7, 2025, 6:41 pm • 2 0 • view
And recession
apr 7, 2025, 6:49 pm • 1 0 • view
I doubt you'll get financial advice from Kai, they've said on the show before to "consult a financial advisor" because giving financial advice can create liability.
apr 8, 2025, 3:07 am • 0 0 • view
What’s this rumor about the Trump administration trying to refinance our national debt? How would that even work?
apr 7, 2025, 6:26 pm • 15 0 • view
What's the safest investment asset in this new economic-political era? Is there one? (Really seems that all the Bogelhead style "just put it in a general index fund" theories might not hold anymore!)
apr 7, 2025, 10:33 pm • 0 0 • view
For the time being, might we replace the wah wah trombones with…..the sound of explosive diarrhea?
apr 7, 2025, 7:09 pm • 1 0 • view
question: will the tariffs only hurt the people who are in the stock market because I keep hearing that only 50% of Americans own stocks so that means that everybody else will be OK, right? 🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️🤦♀️
apr 7, 2025, 7:09 pm • 0 0 • view
Trump says billions have already come in. Will the public ever see a real accounting? How soon? How often? Which department would report that revenue?
apr 7, 2025, 6:29 pm • 4 0 • view
Did Liberation Day damage US trade relations irreparably, no matter which party holds power in the future?
apr 7, 2025, 6:33 pm • 1 0 • view
What happens if china starts dumping us debt? How likely are they to do that, even as retaliation?
apr 7, 2025, 6:28 pm • 3 0 • view
Inflation is caused by too many dollars chasing too few goods, but sometimes things just get more expensive. Tariffs will make things more expensive and have an inflationary impact. Does any set of numbers tell us what is actually inflation versus things actually just getting more expensive?
apr 7, 2025, 7:21 pm • 0 0 • view
Investors pulled money out of stocks in the past week. Where did it go?
apr 7, 2025, 6:45 pm • 1 0 • view
Does Congress have the ability to repeal the tariffs that Trump has put in place or are they powerless to intervene?
apr 7, 2025, 6:27 pm • 0 0 • view
How could anyone involved, knowing what they know, have let this happen?
apr 7, 2025, 8:17 pm • 0 0 • view
I was going to put an offer in on a house last week, but held off. Any tradeoffs to consider as we decide whether to wait and see, or move forward?
apr 7, 2025, 6:46 pm • 3 0 • view
In wondering about how impacts mortgage rates, housing stock, and taking on a large house payment when all of our everyday expenses are about to increase.
apr 7, 2025, 6:48 pm • 0 0 • view
My question is why does our glorious president and great leader say that VAT in other countries is unfair but sales tax here is fine?
apr 7, 2025, 10:37 pm • 1 0 • view
What is/was the point of tariffs, esp. done the way they have been? Theoretically and then practically, what gains are there, if any? And then, is there anything we can do as regular civilians to combat the fiscal nonsense? Or are we just here to lament without control?
apr 7, 2025, 6:31 pm • 1 0 • view
Do higher tariffs promote smuggling of consumer goods? And does higher smuggling of consumer goods promote drug smuggling?
apr 7, 2025, 7:04 pm • 0 0 • view
"help"
apr 7, 2025, 6:28 pm • 1 0 • view
What are the forces disincentivizing foreign nations from organizing and implementing policies that isolate the U.S. as retaliation/punishment for the tariffs?
apr 8, 2025, 12:24 am • 0 0 • view
I'm a Gen-X'er, single parent, with some savings but not a lot. Will I ever be able to retire and collect social security?
apr 7, 2025, 7:25 pm • 3 0 • view
My 81 year old grandma just inherited a small IRA from my late papa— is it better to withdraw and place in a MMA/CD or reinvest? Like, I’m scared to check my retirement accounts and I’m like 40 years from that point.
apr 7, 2025, 6:37 pm • 0 0 • view
When will tariffs start being felt in our day to day purchases?
apr 8, 2025, 2:59 am • 0 0 • view
Do the "DOGE Cuts" (sic) affect the government's ability to actually collect tariff revenue?
apr 7, 2025, 6:28 pm • 3 0 • view
apr 7, 2025, 6:26 pm • 9 0 • view
What does a factory worker in China make? You know, one of those human beings turning the tiny screws. The jobs that we're bringing back to America! Does any American actually want those jobs? If these factory jobs actually paid good wages...what are we going to be paying for phones and clothes?
apr 7, 2025, 6:30 pm • 0 0 • view
What are the times, since McKinley, that the US has instituted major tariffs? And...for each of those instances, how did the economy respond? Is there any basis in real life for Trump's claims?
apr 7, 2025, 6:26 pm • 0 0 • view
do interest rates have to go up because tariffs are inflationary or down because of the looming recession
apr 7, 2025, 6:26 pm • 23 0 • view
Stagflation trap says… yes hello
apr 7, 2025, 6:29 pm • 8 0 • view
I think the consensus after the 70's is that you have to deal with inflation first so...up.
apr 7, 2025, 6:35 pm • 2 0 • view
If the reason for the increase is a tax (tariff), no rate increase will help the situation. The (weak) logic of increased rates is to reduce demand. The tax increase should do that all on its own.
apr 8, 2025, 3:45 pm • 1 0 • view
The issue is that there is a risk of inflation becoming imbedded and continuing to go up after the initial increase (similar to the what oil prices led to in the 70's).
apr 8, 2025, 3:50 pm • 0 0 • view
Hard to say that interest rates are really what dampens inflation. Inflation dampens inflation if you're not pouring money in the other end. Why people are so convinced that rates drive inflation I don't think I'll ever understand.
apr 8, 2025, 4:05 pm • 0 0 • view
I think the "if you are not pouring money in the other end" answers your question? Lowering interest rates is pouring money in.
apr 8, 2025, 4:08 pm • 0 0 • view
Also if the tariffs remain in place there will be a lot of economic restructuring which would likely meant the structural unemployment rate would go up. An interest rate that would push it below structural rate would lead to inflation. The fed will probably need to raise to avoid that.
apr 8, 2025, 3:50 pm • 0 0 • view
Yeah I also think people forget that a Volcker shock is hugely incompatible with the current admins policy goals. Volcker’s 15-18 percent rates killed inflation but also killed a ton of manufacturing concerns who could no longer finance repairs and upgrades. Mass industrial unemployment followed.
apr 8, 2025, 3:52 pm • 0 0 • view
To be clear, raising interest rates would almost certainly raise unemployment quite a bit for a time, but the alternative would be having high imbedded inflation. The Fed (assuming it remains independent) would take the former over the latter.
apr 8, 2025, 4:00 pm • 1 0 • view
But my point is that the specific kind of jobs and economy they are trying to create is more incompatible with the solution that “worked” in the 80s It’s a lot easier to work on tight margins in the short term moving to the service sector than if you need physical infrastructure to function at all.
apr 8, 2025, 4:03 pm • 0 0 • view
Ok but that's not something that's in the Fed's purvey. Their only goal is to set the interest rate at a point that will have the lowest unemployment without causing inflation.
apr 8, 2025, 4:07 pm • 0 0 • view
Yep.
apr 8, 2025, 3:48 pm • 0 0 • view
Please explain WHY A TRADE IS NOT THE SAME THING AS A BUDGET DEFICIT
apr 7, 2025, 6:31 pm • 14 0 • view
I'M SO MAD I FORGOT TO TYPE DEFICIT AFTER TRADE I FEEL LIKE I'M TAKING CRAZY PILLS
apr 7, 2025, 6:53 pm • 14 0 • view
They've put the crazy pills in the water.
apr 7, 2025, 7:02 pm • 3 0 • view
It replaced the fluoride.
apr 8, 2025, 2:23 pm • 2 0 • view
What should I tell my 70 yo mom, who is worried about her IRA, and wants to withdraw her money before the value of it drops even more… wait it out? Or?
apr 7, 2025, 7:18 pm • 1 0 • view
What are the odds congress actually gets enough votes to undo the tariffs?
apr 7, 2025, 6:26 pm • 7 1 • view
I saw a report that the Senate already has, but MAGA Mike Johnson the Performative Christian diddled the house rules to the point where they can pretend they aren't obligated to vote on what the Senate sent them.
apr 7, 2025, 6:30 pm • 6 1 • view
Well that stinks
apr 7, 2025, 6:31 pm • 1 1 • view
AFAIK the resolution the Senate passed was specific to Canada and Mexico, but the basis of it was denying Frump's power to unilaterally set tariffs because it's not relevant to any real emergency. www.congress.gov/bill/119th-c...
apr 7, 2025, 6:33 pm • 3 0 • view
What’s the logic of raising tariffs and then raising hell about lowering interest rates?
apr 7, 2025, 6:30 pm • 0 0 • view
How long are we supposed to wait for the “benefits” of tariffs to show up? Or maybe a better question, what do you think the line is that will make Congress start doing their part?
apr 7, 2025, 6:33 pm • 4 0 • view
I understand the psychology of retaliatory tariffs by other countries but doesn’t that just hurt there consumers also with higher prices?
apr 8, 2025, 3:31 pm • 0 0 • view
WTF
apr 7, 2025, 6:25 pm • 287 0 • view
This was my question as well
apr 7, 2025, 7:15 pm • 0 0 • view
Ken that will take too long to cover
apr 7, 2025, 6:29 pm • 5 0 • view
also curious about this
apr 7, 2025, 6:27 pm • 6 0 • view
apr 7, 2025, 6:28 pm • 7 0 • view
You're going to need to phrase that in the form of a question.
apr 7, 2025, 6:35 pm • 0 0 • view
Seconding this
apr 7, 2025, 11:15 pm • 0 0 • view
That’s a good question for him to answer actually
apr 7, 2025, 6:26 pm • 33 0 • view
"A listener who goes by the name of 'Panican Hat' writes in with a question..."
apr 7, 2025, 7:40 pm • 15 0 • view
Sir, you forgot your question mark.
apr 7, 2025, 6:45 pm • 1 0 • view
You've been pretty straightforward with why this is all a very bad idea... but could be a great moment for a VAT explainer refresh, since that's getting thrown around a bit.
apr 7, 2025, 6:35 pm • 1 0 • view
When Trump says he doesn’t want a trade deficit with any country, is he essentially saying he wants to go back to the barter system?
apr 7, 2025, 6:37 pm • 2 0 • view
What is the theoretical basis behind this kind of aggressive tariff structure? And where do we go to understand the thinking? Keynes, Lock, Friedman, Marx…. Who proposed this? Is it Just Ron Varo or are there others?
apr 7, 2025, 9:02 pm • 0 0 • view
Hypothetically, how low do our wages need to go to be competitive with Vietnam in shoe manufacturing and Lesotho in manufacturing denim in order to be competitive centers of manufacturing? And how many persons will die from starvation, exposure, and depressive behavior until we get there? Thx Kai
apr 7, 2025, 9:37 pm • 2 0 • view
My burning question is if they are drastically cutting services that my tax dollars fund, where’s my refund and when will my tax rate drop accordingly? Because I’m pretty sure my state taxes are going to skyrocket as a result.
apr 7, 2025, 6:59 pm • 1 0 • view
"where's your refund?" that is going into the tax cuts for Corps and the other hyper wealthy.
apr 7, 2025, 7:54 pm • 0 0 • view
Pretty sure it’s going to the new Sovereign Wealth Fund, aka Trump’s Petty Cash.
apr 7, 2025, 8:27 pm • 0 0 • view
Why is it so dumb, all the time
apr 7, 2025, 7:01 pm • 2 0 • view
What is the prediction on when Republican leadership in congress will start to try to undo some of the tariffs?
apr 7, 2025, 6:26 pm • 3 0 • view
What is the path from putting a tariff into place, who or how is the tariff collected, when does it end up in government funds as revenue for the American people, how will consumers know if they are paying the tariff in part or entirely?
apr 7, 2025, 6:53 pm • 0 0 • view
Is the US economy about to freeze up? People stop investing in stock market. Stop buying things. Tariffs freeze the supply chain. Countries stop doing business with the US because they can’t trust what Trump will do next.
apr 8, 2025, 2:21 am • 0 0 • view
Did this happen: Trump’s chart used bogus numbers. He said Cambodia charges 35% tariffs on US imports. They called Trump and acquiesced to set it at 5%. But in reality it was just 5% all along. He got a “win.”
apr 8, 2025, 2:11 am • 0 0 • view
If any trade is an exchange of equal value, and one side ends up with more "cash" while the other ends up with an equivalent value of "goods", is there legitimately a problem? Why does the admin think there is?
apr 7, 2025, 6:32 pm • 2 0 • view
I know you like to say that the stock market is not the economy, but that it is economy-adjacent (I said the same to my econ students). Under present conditions, do you think it is slightly more adjacent than in other cases of market crashes?
apr 7, 2025, 6:29 pm • 2 0 • view
Isn’t it just blatant market manipulation to spread rumors about “pausing” the tariffs (to spike it after buying the low and then resell on the rebound)?
apr 7, 2025, 9:33 pm • 1 0 • view
What - and I cannot stress this enough - the actual fuck, Kai?
apr 8, 2025, 1:21 pm • 2 0 • view
yo any thoughts on how the global oligarchic class have bought every viable means (legal, judicial, congressional, media) of actual democracy working in the USA and more generally across the Western world in the past decades while almost no one in mass media seems to want to raise any alarms?
apr 8, 2025, 12:05 am • 0 0 • view
apr 7, 2025, 7:00 pm • 0 0 • view
What types of economic models are being used to better understand/predict potential outcomes given current levels of instability? Are they having any success? Agent-based models seem like a good candidate: www.inet.ox.ac.uk/news/agent-b.... Have you seen any tariff models that use them?
apr 7, 2025, 10:46 pm • 0 0 • view
How will the tariffs affect the cost of pharmaceuticals, both prescription and OTC?
apr 7, 2025, 6:26 pm • 37 1 • view
I second this question.
apr 7, 2025, 6:32 pm • 2 0 • view
Stagflation and how tariffs impact the feds ability to deal with it.
apr 7, 2025, 6:34 pm • 2 0 • view
Sabri answered this quite well.
apr 7, 2025, 11:39 pm • 1 0 • view
What’s in it for them? WHY purposely crash the economy?
apr 7, 2025, 6:28 pm • 0 0 • view
what does it look like inside a company right now? how do you quickly make adjustments to your supply chain? is it even possible? how do you react in a strategic way when you never know what tomorrow brings?
apr 7, 2025, 9:55 pm • 1 0 • view
What foods are most likely to see large price increases and does that vary by region of the country?
apr 7, 2025, 6:29 pm • 0 0 • view
Can you try and explain Trump's unique math on how tariffs will bring in enough money to allow us to stop paying taxes (as Trump said during the election). Because to me, it would appear it's all just fuzzy math and none of this pencils out.
apr 7, 2025, 6:27 pm • 0 0 • view
Which countries are responding, which are not, when does the hammer come down on payments and how are those tariff payments recorded...is any of this believable, or is it all just made-up numbers?
apr 7, 2025, 6:28 pm • 3 0 • view
How much would a company need to lose in tariffs for it to be more cost-effective to relocate its factory and workforce back to the U.S.? I realize it depends, but generally speaking… Missed your voice last week.
apr 7, 2025, 6:30 pm • 1 0 • view
Did Trump really just pull a King George on everybody’s working capital in the import/export trade? Please confirm why I feel like a Bostonian itching for his tea?
apr 7, 2025, 6:29 pm • 0 0 • view
Why isn't the void answering my screams?
apr 7, 2025, 7:36 pm • 1 0 • view
if the tariffs were to get halted again/reversed by, say, the end of the week, what do you think the long term effects would be? do you think the markets would recover, or has too much faith been broken?
apr 7, 2025, 7:56 pm • 3 0 • view
Are there any backstops for cities if the economy continues to crater and sales tax revenue declines hitting local/state budgets?
apr 7, 2025, 6:58 pm • 2 0 • view
Good one
apr 7, 2025, 7:30 pm • 1 0 • view
What do models shows about tariffs? Do any respected models of the US economy show what Trump and Navarro are promising?
apr 7, 2025, 6:42 pm • 1 0 • view
Also ... Smoot-Hawley tariffs were started at the beginning of the Depression. We are (or were) in a growing economy as of January 2025. Is this difference enough to make the Trump tariffs work where S-H didn't?
apr 7, 2025, 6:43 pm • 1 0 • view
Is there any logical path, even vaguely, where Trump's strategy ends up being a good thing?
apr 7, 2025, 7:11 pm • 3 0 • view
Yes, this. PLEASE ask a bunch of experts to play out the best case scenario. What's the end game? "Manufacturing returns to US because prices are high enough to pay US workers?" ... doesn't this only work if tariffs are permanent? But even so, high prices would require even higher wages.
apr 8, 2025, 2:52 am • 3 0 • view
Alternatively, if the goal is to reduce all tariffs and barriers on US exports (as an example, say EU VAT is eliminated and China eliminates all government subsidies) .. can US manufacturing ever be competitive if the playing fields really are totally level? Best case scenario.
apr 8, 2025, 3:02 am • 0 0 • view
My only question is why?
apr 7, 2025, 7:28 pm • 0 0 • view
A failure and felon who’s every endeavor has been a very stupid get rich quick scheme, all having astoundingly failed, and who is a known liar and grifter and is in debt to the moon and back is going to make a great economy? How do so many keep falling for his bullshit???
apr 7, 2025, 6:39 pm • 0 0 • view
As someone just barely above the bottom of the income scale. What can I do to best insulate myself from everything Trump is doing?
apr 7, 2025, 9:08 pm • 2 0 • view
If only you had covered this previously Jk, you’ve said it until you’re blue in the face and you have the patience of a saint to try to describe it again.
apr 7, 2025, 6:32 pm • 7 0 • view
If we all learn how bad Smoot Hawley is, why are they doing this through executive fiat, with a formula apparently workshopped with Chat GPT? Is it too simplistic to wonder that there truly is NO endgame?
apr 7, 2025, 6:35 pm • 0 0 • view
How 2025 would have looked if we just stayed the course with Biden's industrial policy
apr 7, 2025, 6:27 pm • 1 0 • view
My biggest suspicion is that if we return manufacturing to the US we will need to import low wage workers and foreign experts to run them. Would love to see a number cruncher tell us how many immigrants we would need to feed our consumption.
apr 7, 2025, 7:34 pm • 0 0 • view
Can states/Gavin Newsome do anything to mitigate the impacts?
apr 7, 2025, 8:08 pm • 0 0 • view
What is the combined Federal, State, and Tariff Tax now? Choose any of these for a consideration: Food Clothing Medicine Auto
apr 7, 2025, 6:35 pm • 0 0 • view
Why would anyone ever listen to Jamie Dimon ever again?
apr 7, 2025, 7:40 pm • 0 0 • view
My husband and I are 3-5 years from retiring with 1 more kid to put thru college. how are we supposed to plan: social security? Medicare? we have (less than last week) retirement savings, some in cash/equivalents, but timing to come back (ever? 5-7 years?) is the worst. Should we try to move 🇩🇰
apr 7, 2025, 7:26 pm • 1 0 • view
Don’t pick Denmark it’s got some of the strictest and f’ed up immigration policies. I’m Danish and hoping the Danish government offices will let me bring my American husband with me in a few years (or before if necessary). US have been good to me for 15 years, then 10 years of questionable times..
apr 8, 2025, 12:43 am • 1 0 • view
These days it’s surrealistic. So many parallels, none of them good. Starting to consider how much of the constitution can you break and still expect the union to stand? At this point we’re at least at a dozen. Can we “save” by moving power to individual states and minimize federal power.
apr 8, 2025, 12:50 am • 0 0 • view
So many questions! There are days I regret studying for a citizenship test, was planning to, but I’m not even sure they are doing them right now? Glad I renewed my GC early while Biden was at the helm, even if it was way ahead of time. This was not even a plausible scenario when I landed in 2001
apr 8, 2025, 12:55 am • 1 0 • view
Are you going to bring back the Stormy Weather intro music?
apr 7, 2025, 7:34 pm • 0 0 • view
Everyone knows about Smoot-Hawley. Have there been times when large tariffs have helped the economy of a *developed* country? (I understand if developing countries want to protect domestic industries.)
apr 7, 2025, 6:28 pm • 0 0 • view
Why can’t I stop watching the stock market and why do I have an impending sense of doom about a crash? Is that reasonable? What’s the admins end goal, after we cut through their bluster and lies?
apr 7, 2025, 6:28 pm • 1 0 • view
What do you think the Fed will do? What steps can regular folks take to survive? Especially low income seniors?
apr 7, 2025, 6:33 pm • 0 0 • view
Do the math on the utter impossibility of USA running trade surpluses with every friggin country. Also, discuss why onshoring will not likely happen in chaotic, uncertain investment conditions
apr 7, 2025, 6:32 pm • 0 0 • view
One thing Kai that I keep asking myself: What would John C. Bogle think about all this. The "set it and forget it" is the prevailing investment strategy for those with 401(k). How much of this is normalcy bias? Does the Trump presidency pose LONG term risks to portfolios?
apr 7, 2025, 6:50 pm • 2 0 • view
What happens when tariffs change like they do? Is it chaos at the point of import, are companies having to hire more staff to deal with the fees thus they are more expensive. Basically the bigger picture past the 20% here or 30% there.
apr 7, 2025, 7:32 pm • 0 0 • view
What kind of power is congress supposed to have to stop them? A bill to repeal them at 60 days if congress doesn’t like them seems toothless and way too slow based on how much damage has been done in the past 2 months.
apr 8, 2025, 12:21 pm • 0 0 • view
Let’s say Trump is trying to crash the economy to cause a recession to force Jerome Powell to lower interest rates, allowing the government to pay off debt at a lower interest rate. What does the fed do to prevent stagflation/recession? Should the fed try and protect the world from this insanity?
apr 8, 2025, 1:28 am • 0 0 • view
Why are the markets going back up?
apr 7, 2025, 6:27 pm • 1 0 • view
Is there a crazy outside chance that Trump's plan can actually work? Can anyone illustrate that without make-believe numbers?
apr 7, 2025, 6:27 pm • 1 0 • view
Is there any Tariff structure where the unions get what they want? Or is this a fantasy?
apr 7, 2025, 6:51 pm • 0 0 • view
What happens to the funds generated by US tariffs? Is there a law specifying how those funds be spent? Directed by Congress? Or can Trump spend it however he likes? (Like a $92M military parade to celebrate his birthday.) Who tracks the funds coming in?
apr 7, 2025, 6:30 pm • 4 0 • view
Do some deep dive stories about small industries that are essentially destroyed by these tariffs. One that I saw was board games. Basically all of them are made in China. This will kill small firms and drastically raise prices of whatever remains.
apr 7, 2025, 6:38 pm • 6 0 • view
Is there _any_ historical analogue to what Trump, Lutnick, Bessent, and Hassett are doing to the US and global economy? If so, how did that work out, short-term and long-term?
apr 7, 2025, 6:32 pm • 31 0 • view
William McKinley BABBBYYYY!!! And I second this. Please. Begging. 🙏
apr 8, 2025, 4:45 pm • 1 0 • view
Trump references a time period of 1870-1913 as a benchmark for when our country was great. Could you thoroughly dismantle that stupid notion?
apr 8, 2025, 4:26 am • 0 0 • view
Talk of trade deficit is focused on goods (manufacturing), but what is the trade situation with services, especially in relation to tech & entertainment? Surely we 'export' more movies, video games, operating systems, software, podcasts, etc, than we 'import'. How do those dollar values compare?
apr 8, 2025, 3:08 am • 0 0 • view
I understand gov. layoffs represent a fraction of US jobs, & thus shouldn't affect the macro economy, but what are the expected downstream results from the scale of canceled gov. grants & contracts? Also, not enough to matter to the macro? Is it wrong to assume grants primarily pay salaries?
apr 8, 2025, 2:35 am • 1 0 • view
So, if the stock market is declining globally, where does the money go? I assume when people sell they have to do something with the money. But it doesn't seem that any assets are rising. Does that imply that people are just sitting on cash?
apr 7, 2025, 7:09 pm • 3 0 • view
This one's tricky to picture - but stock is priced at whatever the last trade executed at, with a few guardrails to prevent cheating. If my billion dollar company's shares were $1000 each but the last few days had them trading at a dollar, I have a million dollar company today
apr 8, 2025, 2:57 am • 1 0 • view
That change in valuation holds true even if only a small number of shares changed hands. The company never had a billion dollars cash, just an estimated value based on the sale price of a little slice of it... So to answer your question, the value was an article of faith, and people lost faith.
apr 8, 2025, 3:00 am • 0 0 • view
In relation to tariffs, is it possible for other countries to impose tariffs on US services?
apr 7, 2025, 7:00 pm • 0 0 • view
How are services “exported”? I would think they would be paid for in country where provided? Does surplus for services ameliorate impact of deficit for goods? (Never took macro economics)
apr 7, 2025, 6:58 pm • 0 0 • view
Has DOGE kneecapped the FDIC yet?
apr 7, 2025, 6:32 pm • 1 0 • view
The prospects for the legal challenges to the tariffs from corporations, etc. Is Trump’s "national emergency" assertion a legal vulnerability?
apr 7, 2025, 6:45 pm • 2 0 • view
What does an economy look like where tariffs are determined on your allegiance to a person in power vs market forces? Recommend using a case study of India as a basis for the corrupting effect it has. Wikipedia has a good once over the world on "Corruption in India."
apr 8, 2025, 12:47 am • 1 0 • view
I’ve heard many explanations about why Trump’s plan won’t bring back domestic manufacturing, but almost always from believers in, and beneficiaries of, global free trade. Can you find heterodox or anti-globalization economists to also explain why Trump’s plan is wrong? Thank you
apr 9, 2025, 2:05 am • 0 0 • view
How long would gearing up to do the manufacturing take? How long 'til Trump is out of office, one way or another?
apr 26, 2025, 4:24 pm • 1 0 • view
Has imposing large tariffs ever historically increased the long term financial well-being of the country doing the imposing?
apr 7, 2025, 6:28 pm • 0 0 • view
Even if this were reversed tomorrow, other countries no longer trust the US to lead the global economy. How does that play out?
apr 7, 2025, 6:48 pm • 3 0 • view
Please compare tariffs, sales taxes and VAT.
apr 7, 2025, 6:26 pm • 54 0 • view
Yes, Navarro mentioned VAT this morning and he wants it gone for American goods. What’s the angle there?
apr 7, 2025, 7:48 pm • 0 0 • view
It is as if China demanded no sales tax for Chinese goods only…sigh.
apr 7, 2025, 8:40 pm • 0 0 • view
Wait a minute! Is someone confusing games again. VAT is in the other nations deck so that’s not a card Trump can play!?! He can mess with our own sales tax, other countries can mess with their VAT. It appears someone thought he got elected to be king of the universe in an absolute monarchy.
apr 8, 2025, 12:32 am • 1 0 • view
I would also like to know this
apr 7, 2025, 6:27 pm • 4 0 • view
Costs/benefits of the US dollar being the world's reserve currency, and what happens if that changes.
apr 7, 2025, 6:28 pm • 1 0 • view
Thanks Kai! Q: How does Trump's history of randomly throwing tariffs around and breaking deals allow for the possibility of any resolution? Or what strategies would other countries use when dealing with a guy that can change his mind at any time, suffering no consequences?
apr 7, 2025, 6:45 pm • 1 0 • view
how nuts is the CEA's statement on what other country's should do about the tarri's? www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-st...
apr 7, 2025, 6:27 pm • 2 0 • view
Thanks for sharing - this is thoroughly unhinged
apr 8, 2025, 3:27 am • 0 0 • view
Utterly!
apr 8, 2025, 3:41 am • 0 0 • view
Is repaying bonds in the hands of the treasury/Trump or in the Federal Reserve/non-Trump. So could Trump, “King of Debt,” stop paying on bonds held by PRC and/or issued during Biden term until bond holders agree to renegotiate the payment?
apr 8, 2025, 12:04 am • 0 0 • view
Interesting - the idea of the US defaulting on its debts would be a massive shock even by 2025 standards.
apr 8, 2025, 3:04 am • 0 0 • view
What's the original source of "Walter Bloomberg"s false information that sent the market upwards? Did Reuters falsely report that, as claimed?
apr 7, 2025, 6:30 pm • 0 0 • view
is Goldman Sachs right when they project that the tariffs won't actually happen? What kind of game of chicken are investment banks playing, and how are they hedging?
apr 7, 2025, 6:42 pm • 1 0 • view
Why are bond yields skyrocketing today and isn’t that exactly the opposite of what was expected to happen?
apr 7, 2025, 6:38 pm • 3 0 • view
Even if Congress unwinds everything, what does the reputational hit to the US as a predictable place for the world to park its capital do to our economy in the medium to long term? Put another way: when a Dem President has to clean up this latest R economic disaster, what headwinds will they face?
apr 7, 2025, 6:30 pm • 13 1 • view
Trade deficits. The word “deficit” seems to be Trump’s sticking point. Can they be described in a way that doesn’t make the net-importer sound like they are on the losing end? That might help Econ novices not fear them so much!
apr 7, 2025, 6:37 pm • 2 0 • view
Identify the various policy rationales behind the tariffs and the sources advancing those rationales. I count at least 3: a) as negotiating leverage to achieve freer, fairer trade; b) to replace the income tax; and c) to restore domestic manufacturing and manufacturing jobs. Any likely to succeed?
apr 7, 2025, 6:50 pm • 1 0 • view
They covered most of that last week. The various goals that have been stated are mostly self-limiting and contradictory. achieving one inhibits achieving the others
apr 7, 2025, 7:56 pm • 0 0 • view
What is the cost of collecting tariffs and how much will it affect the supply chain efficiency? Will it further bottleneck the ports?
apr 7, 2025, 7:13 pm • 0 0 • view
How can the tariff avalanche stimulate onshoring if prices would inevitably rise from higher US labor and other commodities costs?
apr 7, 2025, 8:57 pm • 0 0 • view
The World over is reassessing their dependence on US military contractors. What do you think the total effect on US military contractors will be due to the orange idiots choices? Example. Canada going with Gripen instead of F35.
apr 8, 2025, 1:40 am • 0 0 • view
What’s going to happen with ag products that we can’t/don’t grow in US? Coffee, bananas, etc.
apr 7, 2025, 6:51 pm • 1 0 • view
Get APM’s billionaire CEO on air to defend it
apr 7, 2025, 6:49 pm • 0 0 • view
Who are the potential winners from tanking the stock market. Following the money/power will help it make sense.
apr 7, 2025, 6:43 pm • 11 0 • view
Probably the Trumpist insiders trading
apr 7, 2025, 7:48 pm • 2 0 • view
this: bsky.app/profile/muel...
apr 7, 2025, 8:55 pm • 0 0 • view
Alternatively: bsky.app/profile/phys...
apr 7, 2025, 8:36 pm • 2 0 • view
Genuinely, it would be great to hear about the cryptoesque fluff in the system. 2020 inflation, you kept talking about how it was principled inflation, there was never any talk of OPEC 2020 manipulation. Just today, fake tweet shifts market. We can't only tout principles, ignoring the manipulation.
apr 7, 2025, 7:08 pm • 0 0 • view
US debt coming due ? and how that is factoring in to all this?? Ty
apr 7, 2025, 6:26 pm • 3 0 • view
How do currency values and exchange rates relate to tariffs? In essence, would these tariffs result in devaluing the dollar?
apr 7, 2025, 8:29 pm • 0 0 • view
If Steven Miran’s “toolbox” is used and they devalue the dollar, lower interest rates, raise inflation, etc. where will any of us invest our constrained 401ks? Not many 401ks have access to commodities, REITs, foreign currency ETFs. Compare to ‘70s and ‘80s stagflation portfolio performance.
apr 8, 2025, 12:41 am • 1 0 • view
WHY. That’s my question
apr 7, 2025, 6:26 pm • 5 0 • view
How do we get off this merry go round? What are the pathways to change the trajectory-legislation, taking the admin to court, etc
apr 7, 2025, 7:01 pm • 0 0 • view
Could disrupting the economy and starting a global recession be a more effective tactic to cut carbon emissions than any climate-specific regulation?
apr 7, 2025, 7:00 pm • 1 0 • view
The last time we did tariffs and exploded the global economy, the depression in Germany enabled Hitler to rise from his defeat, take control and start WWII. So maybe the climate effects of (oh, let's say Russia) doing something similar could offset any otherwise positive effects on global warming.
apr 7, 2025, 7:53 pm • 0 0 • view
What orifice specifically is Donald Trump’s brains leaking out of, and has footage yet been found of Lutnick scooping them up off the ground and trying to force them back into his skull?
apr 7, 2025, 6:29 pm • 0 0 • view
WTF (2) Seriously 👇 that's the propaganda (cuz no plan)? bsky.app/profile/unus...
apr 7, 2025, 6:30 pm • 2 0 • view
I recently did an estimate on setting up a new manufacturing line. $35 million, and 4 years to put in production. When, exactly, are those jobs going to happen?
apr 7, 2025, 6:32 pm • 5 0 • view
Follow up question: Mao 2.0? bsky.app/profile/pmey...
apr 7, 2025, 7:09 pm • 3 0 • view
There’s a narrative that the stock market decline only affects wealthy people. What are the downstream effects of a stock market decline on business investment, employment, and consumer spending?
apr 8, 2025, 3:00 pm • 0 0 • view
Can we start calling the tariffs what they truly are? A workaround to apply sanctions on countries.
apr 7, 2025, 6:40 pm • 0 0 • view
How many retirees will need to come out of retirement in 2025? Has this admin. overplayed its hand - can the rest of the world cut the US out & revive their economies & leave us isolated? Who is winning with the Trump tariffs? Does the US have the infrastructure & talent to onshore manufacturing?
apr 8, 2025, 11:28 am • 0 0 • view
Will economies of other countries be less impacted than the US economy? Would it be safer to move investments to some of those countries?
apr 7, 2025, 6:33 pm • 0 0 • view
What percentage of US publicly traded equities are owned by non-US investors? What percentage of US Treasury securities are owned by non-US investors?
apr 7, 2025, 6:30 pm • 0 0 • view
Does The little card shop lawsuit against the tarrifs sighting major issue doctrine have a chance in a reasonable amount of time?
apr 7, 2025, 8:00 pm • 0 0 • view
Will it take David Blane style or Harry Potter style magic to reshore manufacturing jobs overnight?
apr 8, 2025, 5:52 am • 1 0 • view
bsky.app/profile/step...
apr 7, 2025, 6:26 pm • 2 0 • view
How long do you think Trump will wait before declaring war on a friendly country due to retaliatory tariffs?
apr 7, 2025, 6:29 pm • 3 0 • view
bsky.app/profile/rude...
apr 9, 2025, 3:15 pm • 0 0 • view
Why, Kai? Why are we dealing with this nonsense? I know that's the answer you can't give.. But it's the one i need.
apr 7, 2025, 6:29 pm • 0 0 • view
How long to hold onto flexible (low penalty or no penalty) market investments to see if they rebound when the plan was to liquidate and buy a house before *waves hand in air* all this happened last week
apr 7, 2025, 6:31 pm • 1 0 • view
Hard mode: DC housing market @kairyssdal.bsky.social
apr 7, 2025, 6:33 pm • 0 0 • view
On a scale of 1-10, how bad are things?
apr 7, 2025, 6:38 pm • 0 0 • view
Can the so called ‘economists’ that came up with the completely fictitious tariff rates equation be charged with fraud? And how many laws have been violated ‘in theory’?
apr 7, 2025, 6:41 pm • 1 0 • view
When the markets are going down but inflation is up where is the best place to put your money? Under the mattress? It seems appropriate since I’m hiding under the covers anyway.
apr 7, 2025, 6:57 pm • 1 0 • view
Long-time listener, first-time caller. Kai, is it true that the term FFS originated from the last three letters in the word tariffs? I’ll hang up and take your answer off the air.
apr 7, 2025, 6:37 pm • 1 0 • view
At what point does a tariff produce the opposite of its intent? Is there a number or a term?
apr 7, 2025, 6:26 pm • 1 0 • view
How much would Americans, screwing in little screws on IPHONEs here, be paid an hour if Apple kept current retail prices?
apr 7, 2025, 6:54 pm • 0 0 • view
Why are we still going to work and doing things?
apr 7, 2025, 6:34 pm • 3 0 • view
Hey Kai… long time listener, first time caller. I’ll ask my question, then hang up and listen. I guess my only question is “WHAT THE HELL, MAN?!?”
apr 7, 2025, 7:43 pm • 0 0 • view
How soon will we know what the implications to the real economy are?
apr 7, 2025, 6:26 pm • 3 0 • view
Do you think countries will give in to Trump and negotiate something worse for themselves to get rid of the tariffs? Has blackmailing like this happened before in recent history?
apr 7, 2025, 6:28 pm • 1 0 • view
Mine's less a question and more of a comment: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!
apr 7, 2025, 6:34 pm • 0 0 • view
Retirees face a double whammy with Social Security uncertainty and steep savings declines. In addition to very real problems for individuals, what add-on economic effects will this likely have? How big an economic engine is this demographic we seem to be trying to wipe out?
apr 7, 2025, 8:47 pm • 0 0 • view
I would like to know when tariffs have ever worked, have ever led to more money and a country truly getting richer
apr 7, 2025, 6:33 pm • 1 0 • view
When was a historical situation where tariffs were a highly effective method to achieve their intended goals?
apr 7, 2025, 6:59 pm • 0 0 • view
More legal than economic, but does the President actually have legal authority to do this unilaterally without some kind of declared emergency situation? I ask because technically, tariffs are an Article I power (legislative branch) -see Art. 1, Sec. 8.
apr 7, 2025, 6:44 pm • 0 0 • view
What’s an example product that the US mostly imports from one country? What was the tariff before, what is it now, and when does the tariff get paid? Who literally pays the tariff? What do econs think are the downstream consequences (pricing, second sourcing, seller finding alternate buyers, etc.)
apr 7, 2025, 7:52 pm • 0 0 • view
What happens if China retaliates by refusing to buy US Treasuries?
apr 7, 2025, 6:37 pm • 10 0 • view
This one, please.
apr 7, 2025, 7:32 pm • 2 0 • view
I've been wondering about this myself. They could even start dumping what they have - a fire sale could drive up t-bill yields, which would push stocks down even further - right? Economic carpet bomb.
apr 8, 2025, 2:46 am • 2 0 • view
how could anyone ever possibly have thought this was a good idea. the writing wasnt just on the wall- it was made into a neon sign and made to flash next to a scantily clad lady
apr 7, 2025, 7:29 pm • 0 0 • view
What do you think is the reason for the relative lull in domestic market movement today, despite the huge intraday volatility and trading volume?
apr 7, 2025, 6:28 pm • 0 0 • view
Why is Trump so obsessed with Tariffs? Where did this drive come from? What it some “widsom” passed down from his father or grandfather?
apr 7, 2025, 6:49 pm • 2 0 • view
Can you spell tariffs without FFS?
apr 8, 2025, 2:07 am • 5 0 • view
What happens if no one receives the goods once they arrive because they are 2x the price? Can or would that happen?
apr 8, 2025, 9:39 pm • 0 0 • view
Is there research that shows time to impact for consumers once the tariffs are announced?
apr 7, 2025, 6:47 pm • 0 0 • view
To what extent can specific businesses be exempted from tariffs if they make (arguably corrupt) deals with the Administration? My understanding is that this was a big problem in Gilded Age tariffs.
apr 7, 2025, 6:30 pm • 20 1 • view
“What fools these mortals be”—from the Puck image
apr 7, 2025, 6:38 pm • 3 0 • view
This is Trump’s favorite era! 1870-1905/ pre anti trust era. It was also the period of the longest depression in the country’s history…
apr 7, 2025, 7:21 pm • 1 0 • view
Your "big problem" is a feature, not a bug, for this administration.
apr 8, 2025, 2:23 pm • 1 0 • view
For Trump, corruption is the only virtue.
apr 8, 2025, 6:00 pm • 0 0 • view
What should I be hoarding? Newspapers and cardboard boxes don't seem to be a good long-term investment anymore.
apr 7, 2025, 6:29 pm • 1 0 • view
Why is our economy built on bullshit?
apr 7, 2025, 6:31 pm • 2 0 • view
why are all the supposedly business-minded republicans letting this happen when they can end it in seconds?
apr 7, 2025, 6:27 pm • 1 0 • view
Does the president only have emergency power to enact tariffs without Congress?
apr 7, 2025, 7:25 pm • 0 0 • view
So, one of the overseas businesses that this strategy is supposed to domesticize is the Martin-Baker ejection seat company, out of the UK. If you were still in naval aviation, how high of a serial number do you want on your domestically manufactured ejection seat before you can trust it?
apr 8, 2025, 6:49 am • 3 0 • view
Where does the actual "cash" go when a tariff is collected? To the treasury? Or to Trump's "sovereign wealth fund?" And what the heck is a sovereign wealth fund?
apr 8, 2025, 9:31 pm • 2 0 • view
Alright, @kairyssdal.bsky.social. I want to know why APM neuters what you say on @marketplace.org vs what you say on bsky. Will you say, 'there is no plan" on air? Doubtful. My second question is, how do you sleep knowing that you enabled this nightmare by sane washing trump?
apr 7, 2025, 6:33 pm • 0 0 • view
Can we impose tariffs on the moon?
apr 7, 2025, 6:29 pm • 0 0 • view
Why was everything on big sale at the grocery store this weekend of all weekends? I’ve never seen so many sale tags
apr 7, 2025, 6:44 pm • 1 0 • view
what do we do now? wish I could say I was being a smartass with that question, but… 🥲
apr 7, 2025, 6:27 pm • 0 0 • view
The answer to who's going to win the trade war is "when's the next election in China?"
apr 7, 2025, 6:28 pm • 0 0 • view
How long until we’re all eating dirt and sticks?
apr 7, 2025, 6:30 pm • 0 0 • view
Do people view these tariffs as a backdoor way to implement a regressive consumption tax without going thru Congress? And while spinning mightily about how they actually work?
apr 8, 2025, 6:26 pm • 1 0 • view
Is there anything even *close* to historical precedent for this chaos? Also - proposed music for the numbers: I Wanna Be Sedated by The Ramones.
apr 7, 2025, 6:37 pm • 5 0 • view
An infuriating talking point I heard yesterday is that “there are equal numbers of experts on both sides of the debate on the value of tariffs. Are there any surveys of economists that debunks the view that this is a 50/50 split of opinions?
apr 8, 2025, 11:56 am • 3 0 • view
Can Newsom really broker his own deals with countries?
apr 7, 2025, 8:32 pm • 0 0 • view
Now that they closed the de minimis loophole, how will purchase work that ship directly from other countries? Will I just get charged more by the company?
apr 7, 2025, 6:29 pm • 1 0 • view