I Won't Debate My Opponent, Vote for Me!

Trumps policies and executive actions were the sanest of any President of my lifetime. I’ll take a few bad tweets or statements in exchange for sane, productive governance, especially if it upsets liberals.

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You sound like a MAGA Republican White Supremacist.

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Like the PPP reform bill?

Cutting everyone’s taxes to stimulate the economy and get economic growth plus record taxes collected was a pretty solid policy.

Enacting tariffs on some of our most important imports and some of our most important trading partners to increase inflation was not a good policy.

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Do you think it’s a good policy to let other countries undercut US Domestic production costs so severely that we become dependent on said other countries?

The only tarriffs I paid for my $3,500 gym set when importing from China was ~$700 in tarrifs for weight in metals (was about 2500lbs total). I still got the entire $10,000+ set for less than $5k by ordering from China… Do you think we can compete with that?

For reference, the exact same piece “multi-functional Smith Machine” costs $3,500 itself when buying domestic.

International trade is supposed to raise everyone’s standard of living. Jamming it up increases costs.

Baby formula was a protected industry in the US. Look how well those guys did!

If inflation is our biggest issue, it seems worthwhile to address the source of more than half of the increase in the price level.

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I agree on your point, but not in where it’s pointed.

If the inflation ‘crisis’ started as a result of things enacted under Trump, wouldn’t we have seen the price increase… under Trump? We didn’t, at least not to a +/- 10% change.

When would you say the rise in inflation started?

Right about here
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Date Projected: Jan 2021
Source: 12-month percentage change, Consumer Price Index, selected categories

And you don’t think Trump spending resulted in that?

I think Biden pulling the plug on the Keystone Pipeline resulted in that… I watched gas go from $3.30/gal on the way to work, to $3.60/gal on the way home - on the same day he canned the pipeline and federal land drilling. Gas prices only went up from there. Now they’re at a nice cozy $6.29/gal here in Cali.

When gasoline is the medium to transport all goods, and the price doubles over the course of 2 years - I don’t understand the thought process behind blaming other factors. Not saying they aren’t important/affecting, just that they are secondary.

Paying people to stay home does that sometimes though.

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Those policies are still in effect. The tariffs are still raising the price level. Both parties seem to be into these Populist, trade limiting Taxes.

Check out steel!
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Biden wasn’t in office when inflation started. Plus inflation is delayed. Takes close to a year for an increase in money supply to affect inflation.

Not sure what part of Jan 2021 and biden being in office you aren’t grasping, but yes he was.

Cool but this isn’t what I’m saying - at all. How long does it take for the increased cost of business to increase prices? Answer: As long as it takes for the business to adjust to a rate in which it is still profitable… AKA maybe a month.


Short term, yes. Long term? I think they will stabilize. Those tarriffs took place in 2018… why didn’t the price of steel increase until late 2020?

There you go man! Now we’re on the same page.

Cheaper foreign goods mean lower prices and higher standard of living in our country.

Messing with the oil supply raises prices.

Messing with the steel supply raises prices too.

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I am no economist, but it seems like our inflation issues are a result of a lot of money in circulation, and a shortage of goods.

Both Trump and Biden contributed to the money in circulation, as well as the Fed (which should be independent, but it seems can be influenced by politics). Both are responsible for things like stimulus checks. Each had their own items that caused this too.

But under Trump we didn’t have as much of a shortage of goods. I think Covid is an explanation for that. People weren’t driving as much, people were more conservative with purchases. Now things related to Covid aren’t much of a concern anymore. People are driving like pre-covid, buying (or trying to buy) things like pre covid.

People being more conservative during Covid also should cause companies to slow down production of goods. When the demand comes back, it may take time to hire back competent workers to make those goods.

Both Biden and Trump have influenced supply of goods as well. Trump with tariffs, and Biden with threats to oil supply as examples.

All that being said, I don’t think the president or which party is in control has had a huge impact to inflation compared to other factors.

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I’m not debating that, but I think the rise of steel prices lines up with the increase in prices for most other goods when compared to inflation history. I do think tarriffs increase steel prices a bit, but I don’t think they increased the prices as badly as inflation has. I’d be willing to be persuaded otherwise if you have a cost-breakdown that explains why the price of steel has increased though (I’ll take some moon rocks while I’m at it lol).

I think when you start messing with the cost of gas, oil and other energy sources - that argument goes out the window. Energy costs are exorbitant under Biden and they weren’t under Trump… I think policy directly plays a role in this.

Or a TV personality. Wait….

Growing US demand from big Biden spending coupled with lowered World production because of Covid. On top of tariffs. The triple whammy for prices!

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Going to use your own graph against you.
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Trump’s steel tarriffs enacted in 2018. The cost of steel did actually correct itself afterwards.

Agree with increased demand and big spending alongside lowered production.

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