Attention to the Unseen

Heather Long writes: President Donald Trump is pushing the economy into a recession. The early signs are already apparent with autoworker layoffs in Indiana and Michigan, a stock market sell-off in recent days and Americans pulling back on spending. But as Trump’s tariffs took effect in the wee hours of Wednesday morning, something even more alarming occurred: panic in the bond markets. Investors started dumping U.S. government bonds. They sold and sold and sold. This is not normal. Typically, U.S….

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The Guardian reports: A libertarian group that has been funded by Leonard Leo and Charles Koch has mounted a legal challenge against Donald Trump’s tariff regime, in a sign of spreading rightwing opposition to a policy that has sent international markets plummeting. The New Civil Liberties Alliance filed a suit against Trump’s imposition of import tariffs on exports from China, arguing that doing so under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) – which the president has invoked to justify…

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Politico reports: During the first two turbulent months of President Donald Trump’s term, the White House has shrugged off scrutiny of its most controversial policies with a simple assertion: The American people voted for this. Now, Trump allies and GOP voters spooked by the tariff-induced market crash are beginning to respond en masse: No, we didn’t. Trump won in November because many voters saw him as an antidote to their economic malaise; as a candidate, he frequently promised to lower…

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CNN reports: Elon Musk took another jab at President Donald Trump’s senior trade adviser Peter Navarro Tuesday, calling him a “moron” on social media as the Tesla CEO further splits from the White House’s tariffs plan. Musk’s remarks were in response to a CNBC interview with Navarro on that aired Monday, during which the White House trade adviser discussed how Tesla’s position as a “car assembler” rather than a car manufacturer could be at odds with Trump’s tariff policies. The…

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The New York Times reports: Wall Street billionaires are not used to being on the outside looking in. But that is where they find themselves after President Trump ignored their appeals to call off his tariff plans which they fear could endanger the economy. With the backdrop of rapidly mounting stock market losses, corporate titans have worked every angle — phone calls, social media and even a typically staid shareholder letter — to try to change Mr. Trump’s mind. The…

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CNN reports: Wealthy business leaders are turning on US President Donald Trump over his plan to impose a colossal set of tariffs on America’s trading partners, as losses mount on stock markets around the world. Billionaire investor Bill Ackman, who endorsed Trump’s 2024 presidential bid, warned Sunday that going ahead with the new tariffs was tantamount to launching an “economic nuclear war.” On Wednesday, Trump said he would impose significantly higher “reciprocal” tariffs on dozens of countries that have the…

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Brent Neiman writes: My first question, when the White House unveiled its tariff regime, was, “How on earth did they calculate such huge rates?” Reciprocal tariffs, after all, are supposed to treat other countries the way they treat us, and foreign tariffs on American goods are nowhere near these levels. The next day it got personal. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative released its methodology and cited an academic paper produced by four economists, including me, seemingly in support…

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