I agree with royamcr ^^^^
A key issue is time frames.
Most economists earn their pay based on short term diagnosis, that frequently make the news.
Things like tariffs and political associations with other countries are long term impact with perhaps a bit of upfront pain.
Every capitalist I know prefers long term planning. One in particular is heavy into various metal acquisition. For factory use, not commodities games.
Thus, the real money is in long term multi year forecasts.
Last, tariffs on selected items can keep workforce employment in the states.
Who remembers John Deere stating "we've strategically leveraged our footprint in Mexico for cab production".
I note that unions in the manufacturing environment are being mostly quiet on the tariff issues.
Note to farmstud60:
"Economists" that miss "major changes in economies" are not true economists regardless of their qualifications.
Those are part of the sellouts that use the short term stuff to claim sky is falling to earn their pay and don't realize that there are always multiple impacts, both long and short term with every policy decision.
Last, VM brings up inflation.
Yes inflation will not drop as quickly with tariffs.
But what if there's a slow multiyear decrease in inflation?
Btw, a key index I watch is the Producer Price index. The factors involved in that always show up in the basic CPI a couple months later.
But key note, the PPI is a result of manufacturing planning that is always booked several months in advance.
For those that are curious, yes I also watch cattle futures.
Originally Posted by Unique_Carpenter
I can mostly agree with what you say. Short term effects are easier to predict than long term effects on most issues. Mainly because small changes can have a multiplying effect longer term.
The biggest problem economists are having with Trumps tariffs is he is not totally using them just for trade issues.Which means they may be implemented or not based on quick outcomes. They also can be dropped quicker in than in the past.
The one thing I haven't read or know if they have studied much is how much the changing values of currency on futures markets has changed things especially since the last major world economic crisis in the 1930's. When Nixon was in office the U.S. Dollar was totally taken off the gold standard. At one time most currencies were based off of Silver or Gold as a standard. The silver or gold standard was a big issue in several presidential elections in the late 1800's in the United States.