On a lighter side, maybe 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off" had the answer? 

https://youtu.be/yuOHbyuanbY


*injecting a little humor*

Yes, China will now receive less profit, and perhaps even go bankrupt economically.

I'm going to be laughing at this joke all week: China is bankrupt, haha. My friend, this is the perfect excuse they've been waiting for in China. China has already surpassed the US in GDP by purchasing power parity; it's the world's largest economy, and it's done so without having to fire missiles or invade any country.

Quote from: stoker2014 on April 04, 2025, 15:37

Yes, China will now receive less profit, and perhaps even go bankrupt economically.

I'm going to be laughing at this joke all week: China is bankrupt, haha. My friend, this is the perfect excuse they've been waiting for in China. China has already surpassed the US in GDP by purchasing power parity; it's the world's largest economy, and it's done so without having to fire missiles or invade any country.

What are you happy about? This is all the result of the criminal policies of the Democrats.
You probably don't know that the war in the Europe and the third world war started at China's request. You don't know that China supports the Russians.

The only thing Trump is doing is dragging the US into a major recession.

Tariffs have also been imposed on small African countries like Lesotho,which is the largest exporter of jeans to the US.

In Europe,governments will now have to think about allocating funds to safeguard businesses,with the consequent loss of money that we taxpayers pay.

Europe in turn will impose new duties,and the prices of goods imported into the US will rise significantly.

Even for us European and the rest of the world Adobe Stock contributors it is bad news,because the dollar will lose value,and we are paid in USD.

Now tell me what could possibly be good in all of this?

Tariffs on China,the European Union,Ukraine(10%),Japan and even islands inhabited only by penguins,but not on Vladimir Putin's Russia!

Quote from: SuperPhoto on April 05, 2025, 22:30

�Lol, I'd say I have a much better understanding of economics than most. From what experience would you arrogantly conclude that to state tarrifs are passed onto the consumer is a 'limited understanding'�

Appreciate the passionate reply, though I think we may be talking past each other a bit.

My original point wasn�t that consumers never bear any of the cost of tariffs�but rather that it�s economically inaccurate to assume they always bear 100% of the burden. That�s a simplification, and the real-world impact depends on multiple variables: elasticity of demand, exchange rate adjustments, supplier pricing strategies, and retailer behavior.

The idea that all tariffs are automatically passed to consumers ignores empirical data. For example, several studies (e.g. Amiti, Redding, and Weinstein, 2019) show that in Trump�s 2018�2019 tariffs on China, Chinese exporters lowered their prices, meaning they absorbed part of the tariff. Likewise, a strong U.S. dollar can offset tariff costs by making imports cheaper.

As for the broader claims about inflation, taxation, and wealth erosion: there�s some truth in noting that inflation affects purchasing power and that fiat currency systems create room for abuse. But labeling all tariffs, taxes, and inflation as �theft-based instruments� isn�t a serious economic framework�it�s a political worldview.

I prefer to ground this discussion in evidence and economics rather than ideology. If the goal is to discuss real economic consequences, we should be willing to look at data, acknowledge complexity, and avoid reducing everything to a single narrative.

You are speaking as if you may have taken a few economics courses and learned what terms like price elasticity means, not only do I have a degree in economics  (among other degrees) - but I've actually worked in govt offices whereby they did a lot of this manipulation, I've seen where economic charts are manipulated by "ignoring" certain data because they didn't fit certain "models" and give the desired "results", etc, etc... and literally overheard senior discussions whereby they were discussing how to manipulate the models in order to get desired results from consumers!

Quite simply - yes, taxes/inflation/etc are theft based instruments. You didn't actually give an unnamed 3rd party PERMISSION to take money from you, did you? You probably do comply though, feeling under threat of violence for noncompliance, correct? If you had the option - whereby someone said "Do you WANT to pay taxes? if you don't WANT to, you don't have to". Would you continue to do so?

But - through television programming and (generally) 20+ years of schooling indoctrination, unless people stop to think and evaluate what they were taught and why - they think "omfg! taxes pay for roads!" (without actually stopping to think how much roads actually cost, how often they are actually repaired, etc, etc) or "taxes pay for police/firefighters/doctors/etc!" (again, without actually sitting down and working out the numbers of how much revenue is actually generated, where it is allocated, how much actually goes to certain budgets, etc, etc).

Money printing IS theft of value/labor. "Interest" payments on bank loans are theft of labor.

Put another way, making it easier to understand.

Let's say you work 100 hours of TIME at $10/hour. You "make" $1,000.

If you got a loan for $1,000 @ 10% interest, (aka you had to pay back $1100 for a $1,000 loan) - essentially - the bank demanding the $1100 has gotten 10 free hours of labor from you (10 hours @ $10/hour). Its theft of labor. (Plus lol - with "modern banking" - the bank doesn't even "have" the money "in the vault" so to speak - they "invent" it out of thin air - "loan" a computer computer bits and bytes to you - and in return get the free labor).

Taxation - same thing.

You spent 100 HOURS earning the $1000. $500 is taken from you in the form of "taxes".
That is 50 hours of TIME. (50 hours * $10/hour = $500).

It's theft of labor.

It's not a "political world view", lol. It's a FACT. This is true in every single nation.

It is simple math.

Most "economics" courses is designed to convolute that and make people think they know what they are talking about because they use complicated terms. It's simple math.

The US Democratic Party is evil. I recommend Trump ban it and disperse all protests. This is what these Democrats are doing on the streets of the US. 

haha, wow. I wasn't even aware that was going on... (thx for posting the picture). lol - what's funny though - is "protests" in themselves (for the protestors) don't actually accomplish anything...
a) if someone is "demanding" their rights, they aren't a free man, they are a slave. (because "demanding" their rights presupposes someone else has the right to grant or deny them those rights).
b) usually "protests" are used (conveniently) by the media to form specific (fictional) stories to push certain agendas. In this case, it seems to be simply trying to divide people into two camps and cause a lot of civil unrest - aka - people fighting each OTHER - instead of realizing it is the massive money printing, inflation/taxation/etc that is the cause of a lot of their "woes"...

The US Democratic Party is evil. I recommend Trump ban it and disperse all protests. This is what these Democrats are doing on the streets of the US. 

It's called democracy, something fashists hate, ... right?

It's called democracy, something fashists hate, ... right?

No, this is called propaganda and lies of the US Democratic Party. Democrats lie to people, wind them up and drive people to such actions.
I also think that if firms, organizations or corporations are headed by Democrats, then perhaps they force their employees to go to such rallies.

Quote from: Seti on April 06, 2025, 09:50

Quote from: stoker2014 on April 05, 2025, 08:55

Quote from: mike123 on April 05, 2025, 06:37

Quote from: Stockhome Syndrome on April 04, 2025, 18:53

For those of you in countries other than the USA, how many Chevys, Cadillacs, or Ford vehicles do you see on a daily basis?  Know why you don't see as many as Toyotas or BMWs? Because your county has had outrageous tariffs and/or crippling regulations on the USA for years, causing American-made vehicles, as an example, to be outrageously expensive compared to the Volkswagens, Hondas, or Audis.

Bro's never been to Europe. Majority of the US cars are simply too large for Europe's roads and cities. And they consume way too much gas - not a problem in the US with cheap gas, but a huge deal in Europe. Basically only Tesla is producing cars suitable for Europe - and surprise, they were happily selling cars in Europe, until Elon went into nazi mode a few months ago.

The tariff + VAT when importing a car made in the USA to the EU is about 30%. This is banditry, parasitism and theft of money from US citizens. Only the Democrats supported such a parasitic EU policy.
At the same time, when exporting cars to the USA, the Americans took only 2.5% tariffs from the European parasites.
Only thanks to the US patriot Trump, today the US introduced 25% tariffs on cars exported to the USA. And I think that this is very little, it is necessary to introduce 30% to 40% tariffs.
And there is no need to talk here about how American cars are bad or big and that all the cities in the EU are very narrow, etc.

What a BS comparison. We pay in EU 19-20% VAT on ALL cars. And what? You pay no VAT in the US on cars?

There is no such tax as VAT in the USA.
Therefore, the budgets of the Euro countries receive income from both the tariffs they impose on the USA and the VAT that US enterprises are forced to pay when exporting products to the EU.

It really hurts, all the bullshitt you're telling. US companies don't pay VAT here in EU, no company pays VAT, VAT is always paid by the final private customer. Companies get the VAT back, if they paid.   And sure you pay tax if you buy a product in the US, even if it's not called VAT.

Quote from: stoker2014 on April 06, 2025, 11:35

Quote from: Seti on April 06, 2025, 09:50

Quote from: stoker2014 on April 05, 2025, 08:55

Quote from: mike123 on April 05, 2025, 06:37

Quote from: Stockhome Syndrome on April 04, 2025, 18:53

For those of you in countries other than the USA, how many Chevys, Cadillacs, or Ford vehicles do you see on a daily basis?  Know why you don't see as many as Toyotas or BMWs? Because your county has had outrageous tariffs and/or crippling regulations on the USA for years, causing American-made vehicles, as an example, to be outrageously expensive compared to the Volkswagens, Hondas, or Audis.

Bro's never been to Europe. Majority of the US cars are simply too large for Europe's roads and cities. And they consume way too much gas - not a problem in the US with cheap gas, but a huge deal in Europe. Basically only Tesla is producing cars suitable for Europe - and surprise, they were happily selling cars in Europe, until Elon went into nazi mode a few months ago.

The tariff + VAT when importing a car made in the USA to the EU is about 30%. This is banditry, parasitism and theft of money from US citizens. Only the Democrats supported such a parasitic EU policy.
At the same time, when exporting cars to the USA, the Americans took only 2.5% tariffs from the European parasites.
Only thanks to the US patriot Trump, today the US introduced 25% tariffs on cars exported to the USA. And I think that this is very little, it is necessary to introduce 30% to 40% tariffs.
And there is no need to talk here about how American cars are bad or big and that all the cities in the EU are very narrow, etc.

What a BS comparison. We pay in EU 19-20% VAT on ALL cars. And what? You pay no VAT in the US on cars?

There is no such tax as VAT in the USA.
Therefore, the budgets of the Euro countries receive income from both the tariffs they impose on the USA and the VAT that US enterprises are forced to pay when exporting products to the EU.

It really hurts, all the bullshitt you're telling. US companies don't pay VAT here in EU, no company pays VAT, VAT is always paid by the final private customer. Companies get the VAT back, if they paid.   And sure you pay tax if you buy a product in the US, even if it's not called VAT.

Most likely, I wrote it incorrectly. The US exports cars to the EU. The exporter pays a tariff to the EU budget. Then this car is sold to the buyer already with VAT, accordingly, the EU budget receives both the tariff and VAT. As we can see, the price of the car becomes uncompetitive in the EU.

At the same time, when a car from the EU is sold to the US, the US budget does not receive VAT. I do not know about any other taxes. Accordingly, the EU, when exporting cars to the US, receives more profit and can sell their cars in the US and can compete with cars produced in the US.

***** Disturbed Retard Spamming the Forum.  Please Ignore ******

Most likely, I wrote it incorrectly. The US exports cars to the EU. The exporter pays a tariff to the EU budget. Then this car is sold to the buyer already with VAT, accordingly, the EU budget receives both the tariff and VAT. As we can see, the price of the car becomes uncompetitive in the EU.

At the same time, when a car from the EU is sold to the US, the US budget does not receive VAT. I do not know about any other taxes. Accordingly, the EU, when exporting cars to the US, receives more profit and can sell their cars in the US and can compete with cars produced in the US.

***** Disturbed Retard Spamming the Forum.  Please Ignore ******

Great historical breakdown�China and India were the dominant global economies for centuries. But it�s important to remember that economic weight doesn�t automatically translate to global leadership or systemic influence. What made the U.S. unique wasn�t just GDP�it was open institutions, innovation, and soft power.

Yes, PPP shows China ahead, but that doesn�t reflect quality of life, institutional strength, or global trust in the yuan versus the dollar. Frank Dik�tter argues that China�s current rise rests on shaky foundations: heavy state control, unreliable data, and internal fear, not broad-based prosperity.

And you�re right�immigration helped make America great. Rejecting it would be a self-inflicted wound.

Well guys, the Australian share market lost over 100 billion Australian dollars in the opening minutes of trading this morning (Monday).

Asian markets have plunged.

Japan�s benchmark Nikkei fell by more than 8% shortly after opening.

"Global markets are in freefall as Donald Trump�s sweeping reciprocal tariffs rattle already nervous investors and wipe trillions of dollars from the world�s leading indexes.

Australian shares were again been smashed on Monday morning after the S&P 500 in the US moved dangerously close to entering a bear market, down 17.5 per cent since its peak in mid-February, while the tech-heavy NASDAQ 100 is already there after Friday�s 6.1 per cent drop.

Billions have been wiped from the market values of some of our biggest companies since Mr Trump launch an all-out assault on America�s trading partners last Wednesday, accusing them of taking advantage of his country and �ripping off� the economy"

I just saw that too.  This will be studied by scholars in the future as gross misjudgment that destroyed lives, at least in financial terms, around the Globe.
Trump is likely to step down before summer end.  But amount of damage already done will take a long time to heal.