“Less than three months into his presidency, Trump’s approach to policy-making had already begun to reveal its erratic nature. His decision to impose tariffs, a move that put the global economy on the brink, did not stem from a robust economic discussion or expert consultation. Instead, as Maddow explains, the genesis of this policy was farcically superficial. Trump, lacking formal economic advisors, tasked his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, with finding an economic expert. Kushner’s method? Browsing Amazon for books, where he was struck by a title, “Death by China,” leading him to contact its author, Peter Navarro. Navarro, a proponent of aggressive tariff policies, appeared to have the intellectual backing for his views. However, it was later revealed that the economic expert he repeatedly cited, Ron Vera—an anagram of Navarro’s own name—was entirely fictitious. This shocking discovery implies that significant policy decisions, capable of wiping trillions of dollars off the global market and pushing the world towards a recession, were based on citations from a non-existent person. This revelation not only casts a shadow over the credibility of Navaro’s advocacy for tariffs but also raises profound concerns about the validation process of policy proposals within the administration.”
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Rachel Maddow: Trump crashed the world’s markets based on the advice of a fictional economist.
Jesus Christ. Their incompetence is matched only by their stupidity.
Fuck every single person who voted for this nightmare.
(via wilwheaton)
amhrancas 