One thing I have learned in working in the financial industry is that there are a spectacular number of people in it operating on the basis that things will be fine because they want them to be fine. It ranges from unfounded optimism to arrogance to full-on Dunning-Krugerism, and seems to manifest at executive level a lot. And unfortunately the only way some of them get disabused is when it all comes crashing down around them.
The smart ones understand that there are risks and unknown factors that can blindside you, and plan for them.
I’m reminded of The Weapon Shop by A.E. Van Vogt. Local busybody is morally outraged by the new store in his neighborhood selling military-grade laser weapons and keeps thinking to himself “If only the Empress knew about this injustice!” As the business continues to thrive despite his attempts to sabotage it, he gets fed up and files a complaint with the Imperial Court - and immediately gets told off by a functionary for daring to question the Empress’ knowledge and wisdom.
While I don’t think it’ll come to pass, I’ve seen some polling for a Trump vs Obama election. I think it would be darkly hilarious to see him get by the 22nd only to lose Obama.
Warren Buffett has said, “I try to invest in businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will.” Who would’ve thought we’d have to apply this to the Federal Government?
Don’t forget to remind them daily of how much less far their shrunken portfolio will go now that prices are surging upwards and the tariffs are a gigantic tax increase on them to boot.
Annnd, the reason that the Chinese had apparently zero interest in using their amazing disinformation superpowers to tank US markets three months ago would be…?
I mean, if sending the US and global economies into catastrophic turmoil is somehow a winning move for China for some reason, how come they never happened to get around to it until just now?
Congrats to Paul Weiss and the other Big Law firms who buckled under to this clown. “Once you have paid him the Danegeld, you never get rid of the Dane!”
Proposed new round of stimulus checks: the rich would get richer and the poor would get jack shit.
Fishback first tweeted about it on X in February: “American taxpayers deserve a ‘DOGE Dividend’: 20% of the money that DOGE saves should be sent back to hard-working Americans as a tax refund check. It was their money in the first place!” Since then, both Elon Musk and President Donald Trump have both aired it as a possibility.
The tax rebate would only go out to American households who pay net-positive taxes.
Low- and moderate-income households often collect more in tax credits than they pay in taxes. The Tax Foundation points out that the bottom 50% of earners in the U.S. pay roughly 3% of the total individual income taxes collected by the IRS.
A analysis by the Pew Research Center found taxpayers earning below $40,000 generally collect more back in tax credits than they pay in taxes. So, these taxpayers would not be eligible for a DOGE dividend check.
While DOGE dividend is a redistribution of wealth, as a tax rebate it would exclude lower earners.
China was too busy genetically engineering the next pandemic virus to make Trump look bad.
(I overheard a couple of months ago a MAGA saying that China was working on a virus whose primary purpose is to infect and kill white people so China can become the dominant global power.)
With Trump as POTUS, who needs mystery viruses? We’re gratuitously trashing our own economy so China can become the dominant global power.
It looks pretty certain IMHO that China would have evolved into the dominant global power over the next few decades anyway, given their growth and development profile and sheer size. But Trump is certainly making that an easier lift for them.
