Michael Winiarski: invented « Expert » was allowed to control Trump’s trade war

For many Americans, perhaps even some of the most incredible MAGA supporters, it is difficult to understand why Trump has stuck to a protectionist policy that threatens to crack not only the US economy but also threatens to drive the whole world into a recession.

In his speech on Wednesday, by US president proclaimed as « Liberation Day, » he said:

– For decades, our country has been looted, robbed and raped by nations near and far, by both friend and enemy. American steel workers, car workers, farmers and skilled craftsmen (…) were really serious.

And then he signed a presidential order for high penalties for hundreds of countries.

Since then, has The world’s stock exchanges have fallen as drastically as during the 2008 economic crash and Pandemin 2020, and heavy economists have called Trump’s customs war for the worst mistake during their lifetime.

Trump’s protectionism, disgust for free trade and regulated relationships between states are nothing new. He has long had the opinion that the outside world has exploited the United States by selling goods to the country. That worldview received a strong reinforcement when Trump first candidated as president for the 2016 election.

It came through a tip from his son -in -law Jared Kushner.

Trump had bitten Kushner to find an economic adviser for his election campaign. Kushner searched, and on Amazon’s website he saw a book written by Peter Navarro, an economics professor and sharp critic of China.

In the book, « Death by China » from 2011, Navarro argued that China is engaged in illegal export subsidies and currency manipulation that make it impossible for American companies to compete.

His solution was to reduce the trade deficit through sky -high tariffs.

Among economic experts is regarded by Navarro’s isolationist views as far beyond the scientific main line, where confidence that free trade benefits growth dominates.

But Trump lit Navarro’s ideas and hired Navarro as his financial adviser in the 2016 election campaign. He built his enthusiasm on a short PM from Navarro, but probably had not read the book. In that case, he might have noticed that Navarro referred to a person who should have been called Ron to be, in fact an anagram (letter -switching) for Navarro.

Navarro used the fictional figure Ron to legitimize his own line, and that helped Trump appointed Navarro after his election victory as the White House Chief Advisor on Trade and Industry. He got the same job when Trump returned to power in January.

It was this weekend As Rachel Maddow, program host in the TV channel MSNBC, reminded the American public of this strange story:

– In all his books, Peter Navarro has relied on an economic expert to justify his views on tariffs, and the economic expert he quotes is someone named Ron be. The problem is that Ron does not exist, that the one who has long referred to Navarro to explain why he is eager so for customs is an invented person. He is an fictitious person that Navarro invented to be able to use as an expert source again and again, said Rachel Maddow.

Her conclusion: Trump’s plans for penalties came through a fake PM, from a fake person with a fake e-mail address so it would look like a serious thing debated by real experts.

The result is so far that Trump has eradicated the Dollar’s market capitalization and brought the United States, the world’s richest country, and the rest of the world to the edge of a self -inflicted global depression.