It’s hard to find a serious treatment of big policy issues, like Trump’s tariffs. Fox News prides itself on being “fair and balanced”. It may have been at one time, but not any longer. It is making the same mistake as MSNBC and much of the legacy media, just from the other end of the political spectrum. This is what happens when our news and information organizations become activists. Fox is shamelessly all-in for Trump as the legacy bunch has been for Democrats. “Fair and balanced”, hogwash.
Social media is chock-a-block with slipshod rationalizations. Hardly trustworthy. Punchy and spurious boilerplate bounce around the world wide web like popcorn in a popper. Elsewhere, people that you formerly trusted are no longer “fair and balanced”. Many lose credibility as they flip their opinions to align with the latest bandwagon. Trump and his MAGA are the latest bandwagon in the GOP as is DEI in the donkey party.
Look at Newt Gingrich. Trump tariffs, Newt is now gung-ho for ‘em. In 2015, his political reputation rested on free trade. He was four-square behind the North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the 1990s, enthusiastically aligning himself with Pres. Bill Clinton as part of his self-described “Clinton-Gingrich Pro-American Growth Team” (see #1). Of course, today, he’s a Trump-and-tariff devotee. He cites an easy rationale for the about-face in the threat of Red China. That’s a handy one for him, but Trump wants to target his tariff missiles on anyone, friends and allies included. The Red China excuse no longer holds water.
So, what is a person to do? I suggest staying away from the activist media. Not all media are alike. The Hoover Institute would be a good place to start, and add the American Enterprise Institute, the Manhattan Institute, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and a good portion of the Wall Street Journal to the list. These and others have a better grasp of economics than the Trump consigliere at Fox.
The Wall Street Journal lays out the basics of tariffs and their ramifications in the accompanying short video. Trump and his partisans, without presenting a sound counterargument, will resort to their usual political jargon to dismiss WSJ as a bunch of “globalists”, etc. That’s not an argument; it’s the antics of the schoolyard typical of AOC and Trump.
Please watch the video. At least you’ll have the beginnings of a more levelheaded treatment of the issue.
RogerG
Sources:
1. “Gingrich reverses course on trade as Trump VP chatter swirls”, Shane Goldmacher, et al, Politico, 7/1/2016, at https://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/newt-gingrich-trump-trade-vice-president-225035