Back in 2009, I wrote a book titled “Distrust, American Style,” in which I explored the role of trust in government and civil society. My research for that book involved dipping into the considerable scholarship on the subject, and confirmed the immense importance of trustworthy behavior by both governments and the various elements of our society. I traced the negative effects of then-emerging examples of untrustworthy behaviors–by businesses like Enron, by a variety of sports figures, and by religious figures. (Catholic Church scandals were in the news daily.)
I did not, however, turn my attention to the importance of trust to national economic performance. Paul Krugman has recently filled that void, explaining the likely, significantly negative consequences of having a madman and would-be king occupying the Oval Office.
Krugman began by focusing on the stupidity of the law firms that “bent the knee” to our mad king–pointing out what should have been blatantly obvious (and raising doubts about the intellectual and analytic bona fides of the fat-cat partners who cowered before Trump’s patently illegal threats.)
Less than a month ago many of America’s biggest law firms made deals with the White House in which they promised to end diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) practices and to devote substantial resources to pro bono work on causes the administration supports. It was a shameful capitulation.
It was also stupid. Anyone who looked either at Donald Trump’s personal history or the history of authoritarian regimes in general would have realized that there’s no such thing as a deal with this administration. Whatever you think Trump and co. have agreed to, they will feel entirely free to make new demands whenever it suits them.
Those firms should have known that giving in to Trump just signals weakness, which leads him to demand further concessions.
Then Krugman explains why Trump’s mercurial behaviors are such a threat to the American economy. U.S. efforts to build an anti-China trade alliance are doomed to failure, Krugman says, “Because nobody with any sense trusts the Trump administration to honor the terms of any deals it makes, whether they’re deals about pro bono work with law firms or tariff deals with other governments.”
And as more and more people realize that Trump and his minions can’t be trusted, the damage will spread from trade to finance. The international role of the dollar and, eventually, America’s ability to service its debt are very much at risk.
Why can’t Donald Trump be trusted? Partly because he’s Donald Trump. But even if he weren’t, absolute monarchs — which is what Trump is trying to become — are fundamentally untrustworthy. The ruler may sometimes choose to honor his promises, but it’s always his choice — a choice that can be changed at any moment. And his untrammeled power makes the nation he rules weaker, not stronger.
Krugman uses historical examples to buttress his central argument that reliance upon a nation’s commitment to the rule of law–a commitment that promises stability–is central to economic growth and prosperity. And as he says, Trump will be unable to make trade deals because nobody trusts his promises.
The international role of the dollar depends in significant part on the belief that the U.S. government can be trusted to behave responsibly. “Among other things, international investors normally assume that the president will respect the independence of the Federal Reserve and refrain from, say, arbitrarily rewriting the terms of federal debt.”
Krugman ends his economics lesson by writing that, “Even now, I don’t think businesses, investors and the public in general fully appreciate what it means that we’re all subject to the whims of a mad king. But they’ll learn.’
Actually, there are indications that the more sophisticated investors and businesspeople are beginning to understand the enormous consequences of installing this madman in office, and of surrounding him with sycophants and clowns unable to restrain his incoherence.
But I’m quite sure Krugman is correct when he says that the public in general doesn’t “get it.”
A couple of days ago, I quoted Frederich Hayek for his analysis of the conditions giving rise to the emergence of “the worst.” They were 1) a dumbed down populace, 2) a gullible electorate, and 3) scapegoats on which that demagogue can focus public enmity and anger. MAGA voters have proved Hayek prescient. Millions of Americans lack even rudimentary civic and economic literacy, and have been kept gullible by media outlets that tell them what they want to hear.
And as a recent Facebook meme has it, “This is all so unfair to people who were just voting their racism.”
Sic transit America…
YES !!
Compromises only work with trust. Obama and the Dems failed at this repeatedly – even with Obamacare- though it was a partial success- those days- look naive and great today.
Mad king, indeed. Also supremely arrogant and ignorant of history. The less we resist, the greater will be our costs, not only in money, but in lives. People are already dying due to the actions of this administration.
The problem with folks like Krugman is that they’ll all be fine once the Dems get back into office. He helped normalize all the existing behavior that he either denied or was ignorant of about himself. The list of pseudo-intellectuals in that category is very long.
Sadly, the +30% of the MAGA cult will always trust Fox News and all the right-wing outlets. That’s a given. I suspect way too many Democrats trust MSNBC and CNN despite all the evidence that they shouldn’t.
The loyalty to the political parties is hilarious considering when they are BOTH responsible for where we ended up – neofascism with a narcissistic POTUS and surrounding cast of sycophants.
I said at the time of Hegseth’s confirmation that he wouldn’t last 90 days. Drunks don’t just “quit drinking for their jobs.” It doesn’t work that way. His emotional maturity was stunted due to his addiction. Not sure why he keeps including his wife in everything he does, but I suspect he has mommy issues. 😉
For the record, China has been unloading US bonds and buying gold for over a year, maybe longer. The number of new applications for BRICS members has increased exponentially over the past several years. Putin has also been buying up gold instead of holding dollars in reserves.
Look at the charts of the dollar’s decline and gold’s steep incline—silver, too. Countries are shifting to hard assets because they don’t trust the USA, and I’m pretty sure Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin know that many of the issues have nothing to do with the POTUS since he’s just a figurehead.
The latest market scare, which should rattle every American and foreign investor, is that Dear Leader is focused on the Federal Reserve because Powell “isn’t doing what the leader wants.” If you think the first three months were unstable, wait until the FED becomes under the daily whims of our Dear Leader.
And talk about misplaced obedience and trust, I hope everyone feels sorry for Europe. I don’t think the banana republics we set up were expecting to be kicked to the crub so abruptly, but damn!!
If there was any remaining trust among foreign leaders, it has been squashed under our Dear Leaders.
Our economy might well be compared to Humpty Dumpty. It’s having a great fall now. The question is, can all the king’s horses and all the king’s white Christian men put Humpty together again. It’s a sure bet that the gang of misfits that constitutes the current administration won’t be able to. The falling dollar might have lured tourists from abroad, but with the uncertainty of our legal system travelers might have a fear of rendition to el Salvador, especially if they have tattoos.
It’s all so very, very sad. The creature in the White House has orange marmalade for a brain, no idea about respect for the country and its Constitution. THAT is what MAGA voted for … in their abject bigotry and ignorance.
But what are we, the sentient beings, going to do about it before all the air leaves our balloon of nationhood?
Relationships are built on credibility, which is grown by repeated and repeatable performance that matches what is happening inside us with what is going on with our actions. If I promise to do X and then don’t do X up to all of your expectations, my credibility with you suffers, and whatever we were collaborating on suffers accordingly.
Those with the highest credibility try to under promise and over perform because they know that Murphy’s Law is always in play and the consequences of failing to deliver. Every failure to deliver taints future promises.
Trump is doing what he has done his entire lifetime: not being true to his word in delivering on his promises, here and in other countries (that he is really trying to conquer in spirit).
Like it or not, we exist as a single node in a global supply chain of goods, energy, labor, and natural resources, glued together by collaboration and capability. When we indicate that our actions do not support our national thought process, others soon see that our particular node does not support the entire network, and they heal themselves and their trade in alternative ways that exclude us.
If I were in business, would I rely on Donald Trump?
Not in a heartbeat.
And the Christian nationalists, so very pious, do they not care that this dirtbag swore upon a bible to uphold the constitution? I expect that as he was doing so he was laughing to himself, “heh, heh, heh!”
Still, the tide does seem to be turning.
I don’t know how many people outside of New Jersey are aware of Trump’s behavior in Atlantic City. There was a time when he signed a contract with a purveyor regarding the purchase and installation of chandeliers, I believe it was. All perfectly legal and the price was agreed to by both parties. When the job was complete the purveyor was told that instead of the agreed amount Trump would pay him less per item. The purveyor refused this offer and was told that Trump had many lawyers on his payroll and would keep him in court for the said money for at least 5 years and he would still only get what Trump was now offering. The end result? The purveyor lost so much that he went out of business. That’s “our” president!
The thing I’ve noticed, is the entire civilized planet is moving on. Plans created by the insane of course, are doomed to failure. Depending on what that failure may be. Maybe, they are just trying to cause failure for the sake of it?!
That being said, what will happen if an insane and narcissistic individual feels disrespected, deflated and ignored? They will probably push the button! Or they will want to push the button. Basically, to prove that they can. Not really extrapolating the consequences of such an action, I don’t think Mar-A-Lago would be a safe location.
Like I mentioned before, about the man of lawlessness, the composite man, in 2nd Thessalonians. This was written thousands of years ago, well, a couple of millennia ago, and that writing is extremely relevant today. All of the experts, cannot come close to the accuracy of scriptural prophecy. It’s not Nostradamus, because it does not leave anything to your imagination or interpretation. But hey, in the process of dumbing everything down, it tends not to be selective!
The intellectual acuity it takes to rule a society should be off the charts. Because that would allow to build up, to gain knowledge, to accumulate it in the storehouse of the mind for wisdom. That translates into a positive and well cultivated conscience which also pairs with a strong sense of discernment. You can actually equate all of that with common sense, but since common sense isn’t common, there isn’t really much that can be done about it. There’s a lot of moving parts in this process, and you can’t just skip over a bunch and expect to have a functional intellect. But you can be a functional troglodyte! Humanity always sinks to the lowest common denominator.
Not seeing Any big shining knight riding in on the big strong horse?
One of your best, Sheila. Thank you. Donald certainly is his father’s son. It is frightening, but I am not going to give up on the positive American spirit. It’s still here, and there will be so much to correct, but we will win. God bless America.
Thanks, Sheila. It’s up to every one of us to continue the resistance to Mad King Ludwing Trump. Write your congressional representative, your senator, your state legislators. Don’t crawl in a shell of resignation. Don’t give up hope in democratic ideals. And above all, whenever you have the opportunity VOTE!
Trump’s history seems to me to be one of ruining everything he touches and demanding others take responsibility for the mess. Now, he is in possession of the power to create a mess that will bring down our nation and the rest of the world. But will his voters pay attention to this? What if we have not only a mad king, but a population just as mad?