Donald Trump’s trade wars go off a cliff

| 11:11 am EDT July 17, 2018
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Of all the negative things that are demonstrably attributable to Donald Trump’s illegitimate presidency, one of the most damaging and lasting disasters could be the destruction of the world economy. Despite Trump’s constant braggadocious claims that he is responsible for the booming economy we are now experiencing, all evidence says the credit belongs to years of economic policies that President Barack Obama’s administration used to bring America out of the worst economy since the Great Depression.

While Trump and his supporters falsely credit Trump for the low unemployment rate and strong economy, we know Trump will blame someone else for the eventual downturn and likely recession ahead. The GOP Tax Scam has been a disaster for the deficit, while already causing the stock market to fall. The Dow Jones is now down over 1,500 points from its high in January. Trump’s ignorance in economics was clear when he tweeted “When you’re almost 800 Billion Dollars a year down on Trade, you can’t lose a Trade War!” That sounds like a degenerate gambler who has had multiple bankruptcies to his name. Sadly, when you are playing around with America’s money, you can certainly lose a trade war.

It now appears that the damage is coming sooner rather than later. New research from strategists at the Swiss Bank UBS says that the markets are going to fall, and that Trump’s trade war could knock off more than 20% of the S&P 500. Arend Kapteyn, the chief global economist at UBS, is warning that “markets were dramatically underestimating how bad things could get if Trump were to further antagonize China.”

The team of economists predict “a 20% plus decline driven by a combination of lower earnings and multiple contraction.” Despite these predictions, UBS fears that markets are not being as cautious as the data indicates is necessary and acting “pretty complacent about it.” While this type of market collapse would be devastating, especially to those near retirement, it would certainly open people’s eyes about how absolutely terrible the Republicans are at governing. We have already seen some Republicans in Congress speak out against Trump’s tariffs, but none have truly done anything of value to stop him. If they refuse to stand up to him, they should pay for the damage they are allowing to continue. If the market begins to drop prior to the midterm elections in November, this will only further bolster the Blue Wave that is coming.