A news report released a few weeks ago stated that Pope Francis was seeking external funding for the Vatican just days before the respiratory crisis that affected him for over a month. I believe that a global financial collapse would make the Vatican's already dire situation unsustainable and would compromise the fundamental principle of the Church's independence from governments and international financial organizations.
I was thinking how frustrated Pope Francis must be that he can’t go out into the public. And King Charles is visiting Italy and the Pope can’t meet with him. The focus is not on the Pope. It’s so “Lenten”. If you think about it.
The United States is such a vigorous economy that the tariffs might drive up prices in the short term, but this should be quickly ameliorated by domestic product replacement, which should provide real jobs as opposed to careers in 'women's studies' and other useless social justice warfare. I think it's noteworthy that most of the panic seems to be coming from trillionaires and billionaires. Larry Fink and his like don't care much for the likes of us. The impact on China could leave them with a lot of surplus goods they have to sell off cheaply, which could be another bonus, particularly for Europe.
Trump is intentionally driving the global economy down. The reason for this will probably be revealed over time, although I think it's about sinking everything and being the first to emerge, but I believe one of the reasons he was allowed to become president and why the media noise has quieted down is precisely this... The EU and China did not have significantly higher tariffs on the US than the US had on Europe, depending on various sectors, but it was all very similar. By imposing high tariffs, he aimed to provoke and create a counter-effect, as seen in the example of China, which retaliated with a 34% tariff on American goods, but Trump eagerly welcomed that and increased it to 104%, and today China has retaliated with 84%. The US imports around 40% of goods from the EU, China, and Japan. If they had started bringing back the industry a few years ago, consumers would have felt a significant blow to their standard of living. On the other hand, he rejects offers from the EU and other countries to reduce tariffs to 0 because he knows that the American deficit would increase even further, and with a strong dollar and a high standard of living, the US cannot be competitive with other countries in terms of labor costs and materials. The US is also dependent on parts and materials from other countries... This is all calculated and agreed upon, and there’s no way the billionaires and the top 1% didn’t approve of this. The voters’ wish was to stop the wars in Gaza, Ukraine, and Yemen, but we can see that all three have escalated even further. This means he’s not really working in the interest of the voters... The worst part is that many poor countries will suffer from this blow, as their industries will be hit, and probably the EU, Australia, and others will also introduce tariffs over time to protect their domestic markets. This could lead to social unrest, wars, revolutions, bloodshed across the world, and a rise in crime, robberies...
I totally disagree. This is Pres Trump’s way of bringing back manufacturing to the USA. We need to make our own medicine, clothes, food etc. I do think the third world countries will suffer though. And our debt is going to sink us if it is not reduced. We have tremendous amounts of money subsidizing other countries. QUOTE="orangina, post: 470925, member: 6158"]Trump is intentionally driving the global economy down. The reason for this will probably be revealed over time, although I think it's about sinking everything and being the first to emerge, but I believe one of the reasons he was allowed to become president and why the media noise has quieted down is precisely this... The EU and China did not have significantly higher tariffs on the US than the US had on Europe, depending on various sectors, but it was all very similar. By imposing high tariffs, he aimed to provoke and create a counter-effect, as seen in the example of China, which retaliated with a 34% tariff on American goods, but Trump eagerly welcomed that and increased it to 104%, and today China has retaliated with 84%. The US imports around 40% of goods from the EU, China, and Japan. If they had started bringing back the industry a few years ago, consumers would have felt a significant blow to their standard of living. On the other hand, he rejects offers from the EU and other countries to reduce tariffs to 0 because he knows that the American deficit would increase even further, and with a strong dollar and a high standard of living, the US cannot be competitive with other countries in terms of labor costs and materials. The US is also dependent on parts and materials from other countries... This is all calculated and agreed upon, and there’s no way the billionaires and the top 1% didn’t approve of this. The voters’ wish was to stop the wars in Gaza, Ukraine, and Yemen, but we can see that all three have escalated even further. This means he’s not really working in the interest of the voters... The worst part is that many poor countries will suffer from this blow, as their industries will be hit, and probably the EU, Australia, and others will also introduce tariffs over time to protect their domestic markets. This could lead to social unrest, wars, revolutions, bloodshed across the world, and a rise in crime, robberies...[/QUOTE]
The US can never be industrially competitive with a strong currency, and a strong currency (the dollar) is what keeps the US from sinking into economic chaos. If the dollar were to stop being used as a reserve currency and all the countries returned those vast amounts of dollars to the US, hyperinflation would occur, and the Great Depression would look like a walk in the park... The reason the US was once dominant in industry was that World War II destroyed all competition, from Spain through the Civil War to France, Germany, Austria, Japan... Everything was scorched, factories destroyed, railways, roads, etc., during the 1950s, and it took years to rebuild. The US gave large loans to other countries, which these countries had to repay, and the dollar was backed by gold, not by air like today, while other countries that were rebuilding ordered all their materials from the US. In addition, all the intelligence from the EU, Japan, and communist countries migrated to the US, which was the only country with a high standard of living and not a war-torn land. This allowed the US to dominate industrially during the 1950s. Look at how the removal of gold, the placing of the dollar in oil trade, coincides with the moving of factories to China, where American companies had low production costs with high profits. This all happened in the early 1970s. Of course, the standard of living for citizens fell, and the US industry was impoverished while American consumers benefited from low prices (partly because the import lobby pushed those prices up). If Trump truly wanted to bring industry back to the US, he would have done so gradually, with specific industries, slowly stimulating them in the US so that the transition wouldn’t be felt, and then imposed tariffs. It’s like discarding a flat tire before replacing it with a new one – at that moment, you’re left without transportation, and that’s what’s happening now. So, the measures don’t make sense except for the purpose of destroying everything. If Trump really cared about the common people, he would be working to dismantle the financial system that allowed for the printing and creation of so much debt without backing and would be asking for gold and silver to be reintroduced to back the dollar.
Big Reveal. It has just been announced that Donald Trump has suspended all tariffs for 90 days...except for China. What a poker-player. How rightly Padraig called it, a few posts above. Cojones, I think is an apt expression, if a bit rude in translation. I read recently that the Russians were quite approving of the Trump tariffs, on the grounds of promoting national sovereignty. And the rest of the world is queueing up for more modest tariffs, but glad to have them! See where this is going...he might be about to peel Russia and China away from one another, as a nice side-effect. China about to be put in its place, and no war needed. Now all we need is justice for the Palestinians.
But he only has less than 4 years... I wonder if he felt this was the only way to quickly accomplish something before the usual powers-that-be return and put everything back the way it was.
Each person has their own concerns in this volatile situation. My daughter is trying to buy her house and there are all kinds of problems. Bank is dragging their feet even though they are looking for a reasonably modest mortgage. They are pretty stressed. Please say a prayer that it all works out for them.
I can’t believe I agree with everyone’s posts. Trump is an enigma. We have to wait and see and pray a lot. The only thing that keeps me from completely backing Trump is with Gaza. I just can’t still understand why he would let Israel just do what it’s doing. The latest video from Alex Krainer is quite informative.
This seems to be a common occurrence with banks and young adults. But government subsidized apartment buildings are going up everywhere here. I am thinking the government is discouraging buying to continue with 15 minute cities. Better control of people and resources, if they get them out of rural areas. Part of the plan in some way. One world order coming together nicely
This is classic manipulation of the stock markets and stocks. Just look at who bought the most when prices were low and you will know how much this is in the interest of the American people. Finally, why is he freezing tariffs with the EU now if he said that tariffs from the EU are not fair? Where has the return of industry to the US disappeared, didn't he said that is the main goal? The problem of the fall of the US does not lie in external enemies (China, EU, Russia...), but in internal ones and the deep state. The Chinese did not hijack American factories and transport them to China themselves, nor did they pay underage labor, nor did other countries create the American debt and send American young men to die in the Middle East so that a small number of people could get rich... They want to destroy the USA, but not its military and economic power until they have achieved all their goals on the international level. What they want is to destroy individuality, freedom of thought, freedom to bear arms, and everything that strengthens the individual American in relation to the state. China took advantage of the greed of the American elite, as the communist system has no regulatory obstacles, let alone some human rights, with low labor costs and a highly intelligent, educated population, the beat USA in the field of supply and demand. Their goods are no longer just cheap and of poor quality, but their quality has risen at still lower prices, much like Japan had in the 1980s and 1990s in the automotive and technology fields. However, if the US loses its status as a world leader, then the deep state and the elite lose the ability to regulate the world order, and that's where Trump comes in to maintain that status. JFK documents, Epstein list, wars in Ukraine, Yemen, Gaza...are a continuation of the policies of all previous presidents. It is difficult to expect different governance when each president is in the hands of his donors.
I hear ya. And it’s not easy having to agree with you. The morals are not with our leaders. But there’s hope with the remnant. We have to be optimistic. These are the times of Our Lady stomping on the head of the snake. We will have an era of peace soon.
Manufacturing is NOT coming back… we have technology now to due manufacturing jobs- it cost $10 to make sneakers in China- it will cost $200 to make sneakers in the US- those are economic facts…. making more money for the rich by crashing the economy is the plan…
