Tit For Tat

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The trade wars begin. Almost as soon as Donald Trump levied trade tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, the immediate response from both Mexico and Canada has been to state that they will set their own tariffs on American goods. Meanwhile, China has said that it would file a case against the US with the World Trade Organisation, plus unspecified 'countermeasures' [source AP]. The net result of all of this is that consumers on all sides will be hit with price increases and that inflation is likely to rise as a result. Will what's left of American industry benefit? No. Will American consumers benefit? No. The irony is that MAGA voters probably understand this truth as little as their elected President appears to. If you add to this economic gaffe the reality of the impending bursting of the AI bubble - and it will happen, upon which the investors of the Western world have already bet the farm - and the inevitable technological and economic domination of China, on which we all so heavily depend already, and it's possible to foresee the US pushed into second place as a major power in the not-too-distant future. I wonder how long it will be before Trump has to backtrack on his idiocy: floating working-class voters are notoriously volatile in their voting habits, worldwide; and you hit them in their pockets at your peril. We'll have to wait and see what happens when the shit hits the fan: won't be pretty, though...

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