# What do you think is the goal of this economic chaos? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [March 29, 2025, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302 "2025-03-29T13:00:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2025, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302/121 "2025-04-07T17:30:53Z")
The Constitution gives Congress the power to levy tariffs. They passed a law at some point giving the president power to levy tariffs during an emergency. As I understand it, they have the power to say “Nope. Not an emergency.” So that wouldn’t be subject to a veto. Repealing the law that granted the authority would be subject to a veto. Also, as we’re seeing discussed in a couple of threads, there’s a lawsuit being prepared that claims Congress doesn’t have the constitutional authority to cede one of its powers, and it seems the courts have ruled that way in the past, but I’m personally concerned that the courts will find the plaintiffs don’t have standing. Not even well read on law, much less an expert, so take all that with a grain of salt. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2025, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302/122 "2025-04-07T18:32:01Z")
The polls she shows at the end are wild, in that 42% of Americans approve of his job as a president but on his handling of the economy and his competency the numbers go down all the way to 30%. So there’s 12% that are purely in it for the racism & homophobia. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2025, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302/123 "2025-04-07T18:35:53Z")
Remember too that there are a lot of people who are effectively outside the economy. Some don’t work, maybe they’re on disability. Maybe they’re retired with a pension. And with about 40% of Americans owning no stock whatsoever, even in the form of 401k, they’ll look at the market chaos as “rich people problems.” ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2025, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302/124 "2025-04-07T19:41:00Z")
> [@OldOlds](#): > > they’ll look at the market chaos as “rich people problems.” Until the cost of everything they need goes up. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2025, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302/125 "2025-04-07T20:00:06Z")
And their Social Security office disappears; and there’s some glitch in their payments requiring them to drive three hours one way to even try to get it fixed. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2025, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302/126 "2025-04-07T20:11:40Z")
Exactly, I am experiancing this now. Signed up for SS 3 months ago for retirement starting in May and it is still in the review phase that is supposed to take 4 weeks. I was planning on leaving the country, but now I fear they will make up a new rule that say new SS request will require in person proof that you are alive and who you say you are. That and they just took a significant chunk out of my 401K with this tariff bullshit. Thieving basturds. I fully expect my SS payments to be delayed 3 months while they make up more new rules. Its a money grab, pure and simple. A retiree who loses 25% of a small 401K is never going to live long enough to see that money come back, the best they can hope for would be to get back to where they were. Some multi millionair who just lose a million and enough to reinvest to make up for their lost since they can buy while the market is down. They will end up better off at our expense. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2025, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302/127 "2025-04-07T20:13:24Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > And their Social Security office disappears; and there’s some glitch in their payments requiring them to drive three hours one way to even try to get it fixed. I’ve been out of the stock market since Trump’s first term, so this and other things are what worry me. What if the banks collapse? What if he somehow gets rid of the FDIC? Then we’re all fucked. ---
**Author:** ![JackieLikesVariety](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackielikesvariety/32/296_2.png) [@JackieLikesVariety](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JackieLikesVariety)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2025, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302/128 "2025-04-07T20:46:37Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Signed up for SS 3 months ago for retirement starting in May and it is still in the review phase that is supposed to take 4 weeks. I am 63 and have meant to get early SS for months now, but have not yet applied. By now, I assume I am fucked and can’t get it ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2025, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302/129 "2025-04-07T20:55:30Z")
I’m betting that they will just drag their feet and make payments late, on the hope that you will die. Its a percentage game. Later they will offer some type of SS buyout where you can invest in some hair brained scheme that lines thier pockets. We have become a third world country. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2025, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302/130 "2025-04-07T21:11:26Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > > > And their Social Security office disappears; and there’s some glitch in their payments requiring them to drive three hours one way to even try to get it fixed. > > I’ve been out of the stock market since Trump’s first term, so this and other things are what worry me. What if the banks collapse? What if he somehow gets rid of the FDIC? Then we’re all fucked. If Plans A, B, and C fail I have a super effective Plan D in my pocket. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2025, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302/131 "2025-04-07T21:18:05Z")
Which is? ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2025, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302/132 "2025-04-07T21:37:47Z")
Disappear/decamp/depart…any of the closely related D words can work. But first I will Dissent. And on my way out I will unleash untested bits of heterodoxy to slime the streets I leave behind. Or something like that. In all seriousness I will probably just disengage/drop out and wait for the bloody end. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302/133 "2025-04-08T00:41:06Z")
I recommend doing some of the Dissenting as part of Plan A. Loudly and in public, if that’s possible for you. ---
**Author:** ![DavidNRockies](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidnrockies/32/6279_2.png) [@DavidNRockies](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DavidNRockies)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302/134 "2025-04-08T00:42:36Z")
Good call. And don’t forget: if it goes badly, and the jack-booted thugs arrive … _“In a 1970s High Times article, American singer-songwriter and future conservative activist Ted Nugent stated that he took crystal meth, and urinated and defecated in his pants before his physical, in order to avoid being drafted into the Vietnam War.”_ IOW, leave yourself an out 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2025, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302/135 "2025-04-08T23:57:13Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I recommend doing some of the Dissenting as part of Plan A. Loudly and in public, if that’s possible for you.. The mental and emotional part of me desperately wants to be be loud and public but the physical part of me has run out of steam. I am doing what I can! ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302/136 "2025-04-10T16:29:06Z")
We are getting close to the NYSE’s level 1 circuit breaker (a 15-minute breather.) It’s dropped five and a half points. The trading curb kicks in at 7. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302/137 "2025-04-10T16:32:00Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > We are getting close to the NYSE’s level 1 circuit breaker (a 15-minute breather.) It’s dropped five and a half points. The trading curb kicks in at 7. I have no idea what this even means but it sounds ominous. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302/138 "2025-04-10T16:34:08Z")
> [@Ellecram](#): > > I have no idea what this even means but it sounds ominous. After the huge 1987 collapse the NYSE implemented “Circuit breakers” - basically, if the market dives too fast they stop trading to give people a breather and prevent panic. At a seven percent drop, they stop for 15 minutes. If after that it keeps diving and is down (as I recall) 12 percent on the day they stop again. If after that it hits 20 down for the day, they close for the day. ---
**Author:** ![Ellecram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellecram/32/18948_2.png) [@Ellecram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellecram)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302/139 "2025-04-10T16:36:17Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > > [@Ellecram](#): > > > > I have no idea what this even means but it sounds ominous. > > After the huge 1987 collapse the NYSE implemented “Circuit breakers” - basically, if the market dives too fast they stop trading to give people a breather and prevent panic. > > At a seven percent drop, they stop for 15 minutes. > If after that it keeps diving and is down (as I recall) 12 percent on the day they stop again. > If after that it hits 20 down for the day, they close for the day. Thank you so much! Very helpful and I understood it! ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2025, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302/140 "2025-04-10T16:39:32Z")
Anybody want to make any bets on when trump will also put a pause on China tariffs, and claim to be an economic savior once the markets start to bounce back again afterwards? I’m guessing tomorrow, or maybe even this afternoon, the way things are going. If not today, if trump posts to Truth Social early tomorrow morning “good day to buy some bargain stocks, wink-wink-- DJT” it will be tomorrow after he and his cronies have had a chance for some bargian buying for sure. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-is-the-goal-of-this-economic-chaos/1016302.md?page=8)