Trump's tariff wars...long post.

[tegs07]

Just now, Pseudonym said:

 

Breadhead.

Oh I’ve tried living in a van and later on working for WigetTech. All fun but one didn’t allow for decent coffee or wine and the other didn’t allow any time to drink the decent coffee or wine.

[Pseudonym]

31 minutes ago, tegs07 said:

All true. My main point though was as we get closer to retirement we become more risk averse (as a generalisation - as we get less time to make up for risky investments and decisions).

 

So the under 50s are more likely to invest in the next potential WigetTech. They are more likely to form the next WigetTech and work for WigetTech,  where as us older guys might be more likely to stick with investing in and working for Apple and buying a property in the best area we can afford. 

 

To be serious, I think that is where the risk-reward equipoise comes into play. That's a much more granular conversation. These days, the notion that less risky investments are as "less -risky" as they used to be is a bit shaky -- and, after all, increased longevity is also affecting assessments of what kind of investment balance is wise at a given stage of life. In my example, I was actually thinking of well-established companies such as Apple, Microsoft, IBM etc as much as whatever fever-dream some microdosing Stanford adolescent ejaculates all over the venture capitalists.

Edited Monday at 17:53 by Pseudonym

[Pseudonym]

1 minute ago, tegs07 said:

Oh I’ve tried living in a van and later on working for WigetTech. All fun but one didn’t allow for decent coffee or wine and the other didn’t allow any time to drink the decent coffee or wine.

 

Yes, I pointed this out to an acquaintance who worked in the games game. He took the job in large measure because they stocked the office with snacks, soft drinks, chocolate etc, and provided lunch. I pointed out that this was so that the employees did not need to leave their desks. I was amazed that they didn't all sit at their desks on toilets.

[Pseudonym]

And yes, I occasionally invest in some of these companies. Volunteers are not victims.

[tegs07]

One of the sad things about the US under Trump is there is a good (compared to Europe, Japan or China) demographic balance, there is a high degree of Technical expertise and R&D and there are a glut of investors.

 

He seems to be doing his level best to destroy the health of the population, cause a brain drain and kill the stock market.

[Pseudonym]

3 hours ago, SteveXFR said:

It always seems that when the economy improves, it makes no difference to workers, wages still don't rise. 

A strong economy only ever benefits those at the top while the rest of us continue to get worse off but we still get told we have to be nice to the rich people who screw us with below inflation wage growth, worsening contracts, increased workload & responsibility and the expectation of unpaid overtime.

 

There were aspects of what used to be known as "Clinton prosperity" that worked well in the poorer parts of the US, such as Oklahoma. It took a hit under Dubya and never really recovered. The main problem, I am sorry to say, is that disaffected voters in those places shifted their political support to politicians who blatantly acted against the economic interests of their constituents. (To take one example, the 1994 midterms installed a load of Republican congressmen, led by Newt Gingrich, who forced Clinton to compromise over various worker-unfriendly policies.) That is fundamentally a problem with how people vote, not with how economic improvements necessarily develop.

 

I sympathise with people who are unhappy enough to harm their own interests but that does not mean I don't find them partly culpable for the outcome. Until and unless these patterns change, I doubt employment conditions will improve much. Falling for culture-war garbage and wackadoodle internet hoaxes hasn't exactly helped, but you can't fix dumb. In an election, I am thoroughly outnumbered by people who are still waiting for Q to save the kids.

Edited Monday at 20:52 by Pseudonym

[prowla]

I just found I needed some things and thought I'd have to go to eBay or Amazon; then I remembered my AliExpress account, so I bought them there (and they were cheaper!).

[Steve Browning]

I suspect avoiding Amazon is illegal, like boycotting Tesla. 🙂

[SteveXFR]

31 minutes ago, Steve Browning said:

I suspect avoiding Amazon is illegal, like boycotting Tesla. 🙂

 

You're attacking Musk's freeze peach

[Agent 00Soul]

2 hours ago, prowla said:

I just found I needed some things and thought I'd have to go to eBay or Amazon; then I remembered my AliExpress account, so I bought them there (and they were cheaper!).

I don’t buy from them. My work had colleagues in the Hong Kong film industry who became persona non grata after the Chinese government cracked down on them a few years back just because the CCP thought their work was subversive.  It’s really bad what they did to that city and its people. 
 

It’s basically impossible to avoid buying Chinese-made goods in the modern UK (world?), so sticking to the most famous “national representative” companies is my personal boycott. 

[prowla]

Just now, Agent 00Soul said:

I don’t buy from them. My work had colleagues in the Hong Kong film industry who became persona non grata after the Chinese government cracked down on them a few years back just because the CCP thought their work was subversive.  It’s really bad what they did to that city and its people. 
 

It’s basically impossible to avoid buying Chinese-made goods in the modern UK (world?), so sticking to the most famous “national representative” companies is my personal boycott. 

Aye.

Given that the items were probably manufactured in China regardless, I chose not to patronise the middle-man companies.

[Downunderwonder]

10 hours ago, Steve Browning said:

I don't know figures, but suggest that the bulk of share dealings are in 'second hand' shares and so no income goes to the issuing company. I would be inclined to tax share dividends at a lower rate in the hands of the original purchaser but they follow normal rules for subsequent 'investors'.

A very large chunk of many companies' shares have been issued after they bloomed as 'splits'. The original shareholders can maintain their share or sell down.

 

Another group of shares are the ones issued to employees in liieu of wages. That's a big piece of Elon's wealth.

 

Lots to consider in a wack a coat tail investor scheme.

[prowla]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cr52yrgq48no

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cg70xgxl3vmt

 

It's the story of how a journalist - the Atlantic magazine's Jeffrey Goldberg - was added to a Signal platform messaging group which apparently included Vice-President JD Vance and Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, in addition to National Security Adviser Mike Waltz.

 

 

[Buddster]

Nah, it's no biggy

 

Trump told NBC News in a phone call that it was “the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one”, adding his national security adviser Michael Waltz had “learned a lesson”.

 

Well that's ok then. 

[tegs07]

15 minutes ago, Buddster said:

Nah, it's no biggy

 

Trump told NBC News in a phone call that it was “the only glitch in two months, and it turned out not to be a serious one”, adding his national security adviser Michael Waltz had “learned a lesson”.

 

Well that's ok then. 

cmon it’s a "coordinated effort" to distract from the "successful" actions of Donald Trump. Like firing all the guys responsible for nuclear safety and national security: 

 

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/politics/government/not-a-one-off-top-dem-links-war-plans-fiasco-to-elon-musk-s-doge/ar-AA1BDjKe

[Daz39]

I’m going to say it, because several politicians have also referred to it to point out the hypocrisy of saying it’s no big deal:

”but her emails…”

[Woodinblack]

7 minutes ago, Daz39 said:

I’m going to say it, because several politicians have also referred to it to point out the hypocrisy of saying it’s no big deal:

”but her emails…”

 

That is how it always works. If you watch fox news you can see them praising Trump for doing the same things they slated biden for doing, and vice versa. It doesn't matter what it is that is done, it is who is doing it. They are currently tying themselves in knots trying to explain why the stock market going down is a good thing, after years saying it was bad!

[steantval]

Diplomacy is a word that’s missing from the Trump administration’s handbook.

[chris_b]

2 minutes ago, steantval said:

Diplomacy is a word that’s missing from the Trump administration’s handbook.

 

There are only blank sheets in that book.

[TimR]

15 minutes ago, steantval said:

Diplomacy is a word that’s missing from the Trump administration’s handbook.

 

12 minutes ago, chris_b said:

 

There are only blank sheets in that book.

 

There's not even drawn any colourful pictures. He ate all the crayons. 

[Buddster]

46 minutes ago, Daz39 said:

I’m going to say it, because several politicians have also referred to it to point out the hypocrisy of saying it’s no big deal:

”but her emails…”

Quite. 

3 of the people in that meeting were calling for her head on a platter at the time. 

[Daz39]

4 minutes ago, Buddster said:

Quite. 

3 of the people in that meeting were calling for her head on a platter at the time. 

Ofc they were; and maga supporters just say it’s not the same and they’re doing a good job. It’s nearly pointless holding them to account.

Harsh excision is the answer!

[Pseudonym]

Armando Ianucci is really at the top of his game with this latest sitcom. I particularly like the subplot about the hopelessly inefficient efficiency experts. I can't wait for Tom Hollander to turn up as the British trade negotiator who leaves his briefing papers on the Heathrow Express and finds that his panic-stricken bargaining positions lead to the UK getting Puerto Rico in exchange for a chicken farm in South Glamorgan.

[Downunderwonder]

I wasn't pay proper attention but our news had one of the not so secret chat participants on canera claiming the whole thing was a hoax.

 

So is that guy going to work at MacDonalds now, or is it a hoax?

[Agent 00Soul]

6 minutes ago, Downunderwonder said:

I wasn't pay proper attention but our news had one of the not so secret chat participants on canera claiming the whole thing was a hoax.

 

So is that guy going to work at MacDonalds now, or is it a hoax?

 

That was Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary with a Crusader tattoo on his chest.  In a world of MAGA true believers, there are going to be a lot of "hoaxes."  It's basically anything that comes out of sources they, the Real Americans, hate - in this case journalists.  This particular SNAFU was uncovered by The Atlantic Magazine I believe.  Dating from 1857, The Atlantic is one of the USA's oldest and most venerable political magazines and has been hated by generations of Republicans who have simply written it off as an elitist, liberal, noblesse oblige, snob sheet (which is partially true - I don't think any of their writers were women, Jews, or People of Colour until well into my lifetime).  The MAGA contingent don't even go that far - to everything The Atlantic writes is a lie designed to destabilise the Real Americans.  The New York Times, The Guardian, BBC, and CNN also fit in with this narrative.  Basically 50% of Americans (them the aforementioned Real American MAGA people) feel they have been on the receiving end of a lifetime of disinformation and hoaxes and Trump's slash and burn is saving them.

 

My question is how progressive and conservative Americans are ever going to manage to live together as one nation. Looks like both sides are dug in and are not going anywhere or are changing any minds. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good fight to have but I wonder what happens when it’s over. Or how it even ends at all.