Trade wars aren't easy to win, in spite of what Trump says. Not for the US, and not for China, either. It doesn't help the US that it's now in a trade war with pretty much everyone: China, the EU, and even Canada. The US will lose in the end, but it's going to get ugly. Not so ugly that preserving food will prove to be a really useful skill, but ugly enough that many US farmers will suffer, and that's never good.
I have absolutely no doubt that we'll lose and lose hard. The USA is a mighty nation but it's nuts to believe we could take on the whole world and come out with anything that's positive. I suspect it'll cause a depression here and very likely worldwide and after that, the US will never hold it's current place on the world stage ever again. Meanwhile, the super rich will pick up farms, businesses, land, etc. for a song, thus making income inequality even worse than it is or would be with that horrible tax bill. Ultimately, I suspect his biggest supporters in the heartland will pay the biggest price and by the time they realize how bad Trump is, it'll be too late. If things work out the way Trump wants, we will live just like the Russians only worse because at least they get healthcare. That type of life in the USA could make the robber/baron era look generous.
Compounding the negative impact of the escalating tariff wars are the realities of climate change and environmental devastation, which Trump's heartland base has worked so hard to deny. The aquifers, rain, and snow pack that have fed agricultural production are drying up. Fracking and pumping have changed the way the earth responds to tectonic shifts in the plates. The possibilities of catastrophic contamination of the existing and future water supply by fracking and pumping operations and the significant underground infrastructure of oil pipelines and fracking refuse are horrifying. Add to this rising sea levels, wild viruses, and the escalating fury of hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions and we're in for a wallop. Americans are going to have to learn to share and collaborate with others across the globe.
Hi, the outline you have written Gracesinger is accurate. Sadly so. But Americans are going to have a big problem cooperating with the rest of the Planet. Trump has just declared a huge trade war on the rest of the Planet, and backed this up by angering the Europeans in NATO so much that they are now openly saying that Trump is not a friend, but a potential enemy. (The Russians are NOT a realistic enemy of the Europeans. They are outgunned totally. 26 core EU nations, and 600 million people, that leaves the Russians unable to realistically win any such war. Plus most russians would be strongly against it.) The main fear we have here in Europe, now, is the American Government, and its strange leader. He has almost succeeded in bringing NATO to the edge of breakup. We despair, over here.
Well, the billionaire isn't going to be a Koch brother, and the entire world is reeling. I can't do anything more than put my 401Ks in annuities, bonds, and a fund with a three percent guaranteed return for now. I feel like I'm bracing for a tidal wave and just hope the waters recede and mellow long enough to pull out what I can at the end of October, when I turn 59 1/2.
I'm seeing big stock market swings in November after the midterm elections. Then, just after Thanksgiving, the market will have a serious dip.