r/LeopardsAteMyFace • u/Peteostro • Nov 26 '24

Trump Pledges 25% Tariffs on Mexico, Canada and 10% on China Trump

https://www.wsj.com/politics/policy/trump-pledges-tariffs-on-mexico-canada-and-china-3c62b1f7

8.1k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

You think a 25% tariff on stuff from Mexico and Canada is going to hurt? That’s a mild discomfort, stepping barefoot on an economic LEGO.

Wait til the world says fuck it, America is too volatile and moves away from the dollar as the basis of international trade.

That’s real pain.

19

u/SubspaceBiographies Nov 26 '24

Crash the dollar has always been the long term plan.

12

u/Rosaryn00se Nov 26 '24

I’ll admit, while I have a decent understanding of politics, I don’t know dick about economics. So if the value of the US dollar does crash, people that are building their retirement will be shit outta luck when their 2 mil turns into the equivalent of 200k?

9

u/StringTheory Nov 26 '24

Pretty much. The only reason the dollar is stable, considering the huge deficits each year to the US budget, is because everyone is using it. The most sought after commodity, oil, is traded in dollars for example.

7

u/Rosaryn00se Nov 26 '24

Damn that’s sad, for some. My parents for example have been both working their whole lives and have almost 2 million between projected pension payouts, ss, and my dad’s union annuity. I have some savings but I’ve already resigned to the fact that the country will be cooked by the time I’m close to retirement anyways. They were great and I just don’t want them to get fucked.

3

u/StringTheory Nov 26 '24

A good idea to avoid currency volatility is to invest in global index funds.

4

u/SubspaceBiographies Nov 26 '24

I’m worried about this for my parents and inlaws as well. Sadly my in laws voted for this, I can’t wait to hear how this will be Biden’s fault.

1

u/Super_Recognition_83 Nov 26 '24

Historically, that has only happened after world wars though.

I highly doubt it is going to happen without one.

2

u/QuitCallingNewsrooms Nov 26 '24

Historically, the dollar has only become the global currency standard once. And that was after Britain bankrupted itself fighting WWI and WWII. Before war, it was the pound. Since then, it has been the US dollar.

Hmmm... an administration coming in that's aligning itself with Russian invading forces that will defy NATO, champion a massive regional war in the Middle East, and then impose nonsensical tariffs on imports from ... *checks notes* our three largest trade partners that will make everything from gas and cars to fucking tomatoes more expensive.

If I was still in school studying international politics and the final exam had one question asking me to crater the dollar and give the world a reason to have something else be the global currency standard -- and I wasn't allowed to just be Argentina -- I would pick this. This is how I would do it.

1

u/Super_Recognition_83 Nov 27 '24

Yeah I remember when my international economy professor in university asked about those things, but also, you mentioned two world wars as well.

As a matter of fact, for me it went like this:

Professor: So, which currency will be the next one?

Someone: the yen

Professor: Wrong. Whoever wins WWIII. If you had asked people before WWI what the next currency would have been, they would have said the mark (german's currency back then). Those things are hard to predict. It could be the yen. Or not.

The USA military might IS part of the reason the dollar is the international currency, lets not forget it.

Could it be done without a major war? Eh, maybe. But the US would totally go to war to keep that supremacy, for all the reasons you highlighted. So, who knows.