"God, Take One of My Eyes"—On the Trump Tariff Folly - By Jude S. Ngu'Ewodo
By Someone who’s watched the trade war from both sides of the checkout line. I made a joke last week: “God, take one of my eyes.” It was dark, sarcastic, and—as promised—I'll now explain what that quip has to do with the dumbfounding stupidity and pointed cruelty of Donald Trump’s trade tariffs. Let’s begin with the stupidity. According to the gospel of Trump, the United States—home to Apple, Microsoft, McDonald's, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe—is being ripped off by the rest of the world. Victimized. Taken for fools. You can picture the imagined scene: solemn Chinese, crafty Europeans, snickering behind their espresso cups while the poor, naïve U.S. sits wide-eyed at the global poker table, being cleaned out. Except, of course, that's not the world we live in. Not even close. The reality? The U.S. is winning the global economic game—by a landslide. Not in steel. Not in sedans. But in the stuff that actually powers the modern world: ideas, services, software, e...