Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, Business, AI, and Debt:
Bitcoin ‘decouples,’ stocks lose $3.5T amid Trump tariff war and Fed warning of ‘higher inflation’
Tether May Launch New Stablecoin If US Regulators Push Out USDT, Says CEO
Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:
French Academy of Medicine: COVID-19 likely result of lab accident
Politics:
New York Will Not Comply with Public School DEI Order
The New York State Education Department on Friday issued a defiant response to the Trump administration’s threats to pull federal funding from public schools over certain diversity, equity and inclusion programs, a remarkable departure from the recent conciliatory approach of other institutions.
Trump Plans To Force Congress To Swallow Whatever DOGE Cooks Up
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Trump says China 'played it wrong' in retaliation against US tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said China "played it wrong" after Beijing retaliated against new U.S. tariffs, unveiling countermeasures that included additional duties of 34% on U.S. goods.
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Trump’s Ego Melts the Global Economy
Amid the chaos of eviscerated retirement savings, blown-up supply chains, and pissed-off allies, perhaps it’s a mistake to linger on just how wrong America’s business establishment continues to be about Trump. But, wow, has this been a case of near-catastrophic wishful thinking. And I think it speaks to much of what we are still not understanding about the ways in which Trump’s second term is off to a darker, more dangerous start than his first…
But, of course, the real mistake has little to do with global trade policy, and much to do with a failed theory of the case about Trump. There is no rational analysis that would lead one to the conclusion that a President would single-handedly decide to blow up a century’s worth of globalization on a chilly Wednesday afternoon in April.
‘Liberation Day’ Marks America's Slide Towards Irrelevance
With new tariffs, slowing economic growth, chaos in government, and a debt ceiling crisis looming, America is being isolated in ways that most serve Vladimir Putin.
I have a patriotic appreciation for the U.S.’s export industry of finance, and two of that industry’s most popular products are: (1) Sprinkling some Greek letters on your work to add visual interest, and (2) Making up parameters to solve for the result you want. Even in this tariff announcement, you see the U.S. leaning into its comparative advantage.
Trump’s Tariffs Are Designed to Backfire
Instead of leading to reduced trade barriers, the new global tariff plan is all but guaranteed to raise them.
There Is Only One Way to Make Sense of the Tariffs
The policy is absurd. It’s also an extension of Trump’s chaotic personality.
Are Tariffs an Emergency Power?
The Trump administration’s sweeping tariff regime presents a problematic invocation of IEEPA and other authorities.
The Wild Trump Theory Making the Rounds on Wall Street
QAnon for tariffs
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———— Autocracy R Us ————
Judge rules US must return man deported to El Salvador in 'error'
Hundreds of law firms back Perkins Coie in fight against Trump sanctions
More than 500 law firms on Friday denounced President Donald Trump’s campaign to punish individual firms, calling his actions abuses of power that endanger the rule of law.
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E.U. Prepares Major Penalties Against Elon Musk’s X
European regulators are considering fining X more than $1 billion, after weighing the risks of further antagonizing Mr. Musk and President Trump.
Everything is blowing up in Elon Musk’s face
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Trump Weakens U.S. Cyberdefenses
When President Trump abruptly fired the head of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command on Thursday, it was the latest in a series of moves that have torn away at the country’s cyberdefenses just as they are confronting the most sophisticated and sustained attacks in the nation’s history.
The World Threatens Trump’s Agenda
The climate in Washington and across the country — both politically and economically — is making it much more difficult for Republicans to pass a massive tax-and-cut plan. Equity markets are getting rocked. Economists are already saying that a recession is possible. It will be difficult for Republicans to make the case that they should cut government spending. One almost wonders if the president should’ve waited on his tariff regime until after the reconciliation bill was passed.
The last two weeks especially – with Trump’s tariff frenzy and the Signal scandal dominating – have left Senate Republicans exhausted and more grumpy than usual during their closed-door meetings, per our conversations with GOP senators this week.
And for the budget reconciliation package, the costs of failure could not be higher. A vast majority of Americans would see a tax increase. Remember, too, that Republicans are trying to use the legislation to raise the debt limit, which likely needs to be done by late spring or early summer.
White House Cancels Garden Tours Ahead of Protests
White House spring garden tours scheduled Saturday were postponed in anticipation of large-scale anti-President Trump protests.
The mass movement is catching the eye of the Trump administration before demonstrators even take to the streets.
Nuclear Bomb Staffers on ‘Non-Essential’ List
Serendipity:
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Perhaps the best evidence that Trump is impulsive and lacks the ability to reflect. If he had been thinking about this issue deeply, he would have realized that throwing a monkey wrench into the global economy wasn't the best way to shore up support for his tax-cutting ambitions.