01 Feb 2025 Reading time: 3 minutes This is Part 3 of a multiple part series.
In Part 2, I mentioned that I had a few points left over from Part 1 but I only covered one in Part 2. Here I will address another major set of thoughts with regard to tariffs and especially widespread application thereof.
Retaliation
With the imposition of tariffs against another nation, especially the broad application of them - comes the high probability of retaliation.
This retaliation comes in many forms, but taking Canada as just one example that has been public about the fact that they will retaliate if broad tariffs are imposed.
These are just some of the retaliatory measures Canada has openly discussed, which could significantly harm the U.S. and that is just one country.
When Canada applies retaliatory tariffs on us - that could affect almost half a trillion dollars in exports by US companies (exports from US to Canada were $427.7 billion in 2022 - Source). In total (imports and exports) - the U.S. and Canada do a total of about 1 trillion dollars in trade each year - this represents a large amount of goods that will instantly be more expensive for companies and consumers in both countries.
Trade wars hurt everyone, massively. While implementing broad scale tariffs on a nation or set of nations hurts people in your country — starting a trade war and getting retaliatory tariffs imposed on you makes this many times worse.
It is incredibly hard to estimate just how bad it will be with any concrete numbers - but what is clear is that imposing significant tariffs to multiple of our largest trading partners could cost our economy hundreds of thousands (or potentially 1 million+) jobs. Take a look at what the Tax Foundation thinks about estimating harm (they have numbers that estimate even before retaliation).
Buy what you need now, stock up on things.
Relations
Threatening a country with tariffs is hardly the way to ensure larger successes. You may be able to bully a few small things out of the other country - but the harm it does to trade, relations, and national security - is massive. If our neighbors and treaty partners can’t trust us on a trade agreement, what can they trust us with? Why not expand trade with China (or any of the BRICS countries) instead of the U.S.?
What happens when there is sensitive intelligence that could help the US protect itself? If that intelligence includes implicating a source or a spy operation - will that country be willing to share the details?
Bullying our allies with tariffs weakens the U.S. drastically—before even accounting for the devastating economic fallout of trade wars. These tactics specifically strengthen all of the nations who are competitors of ours in the world, in many ways. They are laughing and excited in Beijing.
31 Jan 2025 Reading time: 1 minute This is the second recap of my new mini project, where I post a quote by a Founding Father each day to this Bluesky account. All of these were posted recently - I had a small hiccup and this one is a bit bigger than normal!
“Among the natural rights of the Colonists are these: First, a right to life; secondly, to liberty; thirdly, to property.“
- Samuel Adams
“A well-instructed people alone can be permanently a free people...“
- James Madison
“Distrust naturally creates distrust, and by nothing is good will and kind conduct more speedily changed."
- John Jay
“Give me liberty, or give me death!”
- Patrick Henry
“Well done is better than well said.“
- Benjamin Franklin
“The Constitution is the guide which I never will abandon.“
- George Washington
“Facts are stubborn things.“
- John Adams
"The advancement and diffusion of knowledge is the only guardian of true liberty."
- James Madison
“Power must never be trusted without a check.“
- John Adams
“Liberty, when it begins to take root, is a plant of rapid growth.“
- George Washington
“Guard with jealous attention the public liberty.”
- Patrick Henry
28 Jan 2025 Reading time: 3 minutes 
I’ve been writing and posting for a little over 2 months now. I’d like to revisit a few of my favorites from this time!
I will make highlight posts like this every once in a while, maybe monthly to reduce the length of them.
This is the series I spent the most time on - and a lot of it is extremely important especially with the recent news about how China is catching up in AI.
I wish this series did as well as my tariffs series, as it is much, much, much more important! Each part can be read independently, but it is best when you read all of it. It’s not terribly long!
I wrote two parts regarding tariffs. I believe these are both critical to understanding what might happen if there are broad tariffs implemented.
I do think I will make a part 3 and potentially more parts to this soon-ish.
A massive fusion breakthrough shows again that they are in the lead in this critical innovation. What does the USA need to do? What other energy projects are China ahead on?
Quotes from one of the most consequential men in American history.
There’s a theme, so far, on this blog - focusing about lesser known and/or under appreciated aspects of history. One example of this is my other highlighted post about Building 7.
Another such, vastly under-appreciated, story - is this story.
Economic outlook & predictions based on two major policy proposals by the current administration. An economic article more so than a political one. Critical information if you’d like to understand how policy could affect everyone’s lives.
Does adding new workers to an economy reduce jobs for others? Nope! This is known as the Lump of Labor Fallacy - see the explanation here to understand.
Understanding this can help you understand what certain policies will do to the economy overall.
This post is meant to give you a basic understanding of what externalities are, some examples of them, and an introduction on why they matter and need correction. Here we are particularly focused on negative externalities - since these are both more common and from a policy perspective, far more important.
An lesser known story during 9/11.
Explore second-order thinking through the lens of various economic counter intuitions.
What would Jesus think of some of these things?
