Along with some of the keenest minds in economics, I find myself shaking my head in disbelief at the economic gyrations that Donald Trump is concocting. As he announces punishing tariffs on our trading partners and allies, under the pretext of “fentanyl imports and illegal immigration,” we watch incredulously as the stock market jumps off a cliff.
American industry and businesses find themselves feeling their way in the dark as they attempt to plan for the future. Hiring and investing are likely going to stall as the uncertainty deepens. Economic policy seems to shift on a daily—and sometimes hourly—basis.
Much of the electorate “trusts in Trump” because he is, after all, “a businessman.”
But businessmen are not economists. …