In this episode, Victor Davis Hanson and cohost Jack Fowler examine the fallout from tariffs and “Black Monday”, the ruling on district judge Boasberg’s case against deportation, that 52% of the Left would be happy if Trump were assassinated, and how Obama’s brand is falling precipitously.
Menu
This is a simple technical question: Victor and many (all) commentators keep claiming that European VAT is a large non-tariff trade barrier (like 20%). But VAT is paid by domestic consumers on foreign AND domestic products alike; it’s not asymmetric. So what makes it a trade barrier? We have a sales tax which operates in a similar fashion.
Technically , my understanding is that while VAT might be paid on foreign goods as they enter a county, it’s refunded when the consumer pays it at retail sale.
Bit of an aside. Dr. Hanson spoke about the Brits being class conscious regarding speeding tickets. Not new. In his book, “The English”, Sir David Frost talked about local traffic judges. The first thing that the judge had to do was to determine whether the accused was a patrician or a peasant — because all peasants belong in their villages, not out on the highways.
The judge would get the accused (apparently always a man) to talk about his spouse. If the man referred to “my” wife, or “Sally”, he was a patrician and could be let off easy. If the person said “the” wife, he was obviously a peasant — the table, the dog, the wife. Then the judge would hammer him because he should stay in his village.
Victor your analysis regarding the Supreme Court decision regarding the AEA is very sloppy. The Tren DeAragua gangsters are not just being Deported back to Venezuela, they are being detained in Texas and then sent to prison in El Salvador without a trial as essentially POW’s. The court ruled and the government agreed that they can challenge their detention under Habeus Corpus on an individual basis in the district that they are being held before being imprisoned in El Salvador. No class actions or venue shopping is allowed. Obviously this makes sense because there has to be a minimum burden for the government to meet to show that they actually are gang members covered under the AEA. If not then by all means just send them back to Venezuela or wherever they come from as free persons.
To Mr Steven Bonner, I’ve always been amused how Experts like him easily throw out caustic commentary like they are the friggin experts, when not a darn thing has been being done for the last 40-50 yrs to get it right. Shut the Heck up you expert! Your chosen idiots have made our situation untenable.
It is a simple mathematical identity that a country cannot consume more than it produces without running an aggregate trade deficit. The focus on bilateral trade deficits in goods is idiotic. At least the US can finance its debt in dollars-while foreigners are still willing to take them.
I also find it amusing that Hanson and Trump, two economic illiterates, ignore the US trade surplus in services in their calculations.
If you want an intelligent case ron how the US should use tariffs and capital flow controls, read the work of Michael Pettis.
I disagree that Hanson and Trump are economic illiterates. While neither is trained as an economist, with a degree in economics, that doesn’t mean that they don’t know anything about economics. Is it more that you just don’t agree with their arguments or policies, that you call them illiterates?
I have to make a correct-Trump has a bachelor’s degree in economics. So it really does sound like you called him illiterate because you just plain disagree with him.
VDH has stamina and a Herculean work ethic, solid principles and convictions about what he believes, and has not been influenced by peer pressure. Life in a family dependent on the good earth, physical and intellectual exertion, humility, the ability to laugh at oneself, are core characteristics of farmers. We know we are far less powerful than nature (which I equate with God).