Source: Washington Post
by Megan McArdle
“Like many of our readers, I’m sure, I’ve been stocking up on various items that are made in China before the price rises. That seems to me a good metaphor for the odd period we’re in: We know what’s coming, but it hasn’t arrived yet. President Donald Trump is preparing us for what it might look like, though, recently warning that ‘maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls.’ Is this what the post-‘Liberation Day’ economy will look like come the holidays? And how will Americans react to empty shelves or price hikes for goods they expect to be cheap and plentiful? I spoke with my colleagues Philip Bump and Jim Geraghty about the politics of shortages.” (05/05/25)