Trump's Worst Idea: Paying Off National Debt with Tariffs

Today's updates from Rick's Picks. You are receiving this email because you signed up for daily updates at www.rickackerman.com Is this email not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser](. [Follow on Twitter]( [Forward to a Friend]( The Hidden Pivot Seminar "Trading success is only six hours away." Learn Rick Ackerman's risk-averse Hidden Pivot Method and never trade the old way again. -------------------------------- “...I am pinching myself to be sure I am not dreaming. I am more confident every day with the HP approach. I am making money... I am able to escape the screen if I so wish. I do not end the day stressed and hyperactive. Impressed? I am absolutely knocked out - just wish I had found the site years ago. Best wishes, long may you continue.”- David Ivory --------------------------------------------------------------- - [North Korea Is on Investors’ Radar]( - [How Long Can Mr. Market Waffle?]( - [One-Decision]( Are Too Enticing to Shun for Long]( - [Over-Under Bet for a Holiday-Shortened Week]( - [‘Seasonality’ Takes a Licking]( - [Pre-Holiday Hijinx]( - [Is ‘Matt’s Curse’ About to Doom Stocks?]( - [Nasdaq Produces a Rare Profit for Shorts]( - [AMZN Glowers at Bears]( Rick's Pick for Thursday Pay Off U.S. Debt with Tariffs? A Bad Idea. Published Wednesday, August 8, 11:01 p.m. EDT Trump’s heart may be in the right place when he plays hardball with our trading partners, but he left little doubt on Wednesday that his brain is out to lunch on tariff math. His notion that revenues from sizable new import levies could pay off the national debt is as pernicious and lacking in common sense as Alan Greenspan’s statement that inflated home values constitute ‘wealth’. The Fed chairman has a PhD in economics, so it’s understandable why he would make such a ridiculous statement (along with another that purported to describe a U.S. capital investment boom at a time when household savings growth was in fact negative). But Trump is a businessman and therefore supposedly able to do the math. 33% Tariff on All Imports Would ‘Work’ Instead, the hard left and its flagship newspaper, the New York Times, did it for him, making him look like a yokel. The Times estimated that even if much higher import duties had no effect on U.S. consumers’ appetite for foreign goods, the extra revenues would not begin to produce a budget surplus large enough to pay off a national debt currently at $21 trillion and slated to grow by $800 billion in 2018. To merely offset the latter sum via trade policy alone, noted the Times, Trump “would need to impose a more-than 33 percent tariff on $2.34 trillion in imports — which is to say, every single good the United States imported last year.” Numbers aside, only the economically benighted could want to see the U.S. Government running huge surpluses, since that would be tantamount to socking the private sector with huge new taxes. Most of it would be a direct offset against consumption — if not dollar for dollar, then by at least enough to put the U.S. economy in deep recession. One hopes Trump was just shooting off his mouth, since, if he’s serious, his take on the use of tariffs is the most deflationary idea ever put forth by an American president. If you don't subscribe to Rick's Picks, just [click here]( a free two-week trial. It will give you instant access not only to the chat room, but to actionable 'touts', intraday alerts, ‘jackpot’ bets using super-leveraged options and impromptu ‘requests’ sessions online. [follow on Twitter]( || [forward to a friend]( Copyright © 2018 Hidden Pivot Enterprises, All rights reserved. You're receiving this email because you requested that our Daily Commentary be emailed to you. The return email address is not monitored for reply. If you don't wish to receive further mailings, please use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this message. Our mailing address is: Hidden Pivot Enterprises PO Box 270646Louisville, CO 80027 [Add us to your address book](//Com.us1.list-manage.com/vcard?u=822f57272edf2c46e4f77a7be&id=ca89ff5d33) [unsubscribe from this list]( | [update subscription preferences](