tariffs\

President Trump managed to both raise taxes and grow the deficit at double-digit rates. That’s the worst possible outcome, Porter writes today. The president’s budget harms the economy and doesn’t do anything to reduce the risk of a financial collapse – it makes it more likely!

The real damage that tariffs cause is not just the destabilization of stock markets. It is the real burden it will place on businesses and ultimately consumers.

Today, the Nobel prize was awarded to three economists for their decades of contributions to understanding how technological progress has transformed societies over the past two centuries, lifting billions out of poverty, improving health, and raising the overall standard of living.

In our democracy there’s a huge incentive for people to vote for benefits (money, credit, patronage) they do not have to pay for. These incentives create huge inefficiencies in our economy. Thus, Porter writes, it’s unlikely Elon Musk or anyone will be able to reduce government spending – and Social Security will disappear.

Porter reminds readers of the tariff, enacted more than 100 years ago, that decimated farmers and that set in motion the economic forces that led directly to the Great Depression. Sadly, he says, the current administration seems not to have learned from what history taught us.