“How will the media and Democratic pundits explain Vice President Kamala Harris'[s] stunning defeat? How will the media and Democratic pundits explain former President Donald Trump’s incredible recapture of the White House, the most improbable comeback since heavyweight champion George Foreman regained the title at age 45 having lost it 20 years earlier? How many times did the ‘experts’ count Trump out? When he won the presidency in 2016, so many described Trump as mentally unstable that he took a cognitive test and allowed the White House doctor to hold a press conference to convince the country that Trump was not ‘crazy’. Critics, who considered Trump delusional, hoped out loud his cabinet would invoke the 25th Amendment over Trump’s supposed ‘incapacity’. The House impeached him twice. He was routinely called a ‘fascist’. He survived two assassination attempts.” (11/07/24)
“It takes some skill to make Donald J. Trump look good. Two Democrats have succeeded in doing so: Hillary Clinton in 2016 and Kamala Harris in 2024. The conceit of both presidential campaigns, and the belief that attacking a staggeringly grotesque moral character for being such, was laughable. (When a Clinton mocks groping philanderers and creepy molesters, one must reach for, well, the Starr Report?) In certain countries, abominating and execrating your political adversary for being a moral defective might work. In the United States, such figures can draw benefit from being outside the constraints of law-abiding society. They are quite literally outlaw spirits that still speak of that nebulous notion called the American Dream while encouraging everyone else to come for the ride. Realising it involves treading on toes and breaking a few skulls on the way, but that’s the expectation.” (11/07/24)
“Polymarket (and prediction markets in general) had an amazing Election Night. They called states impressively early and accurately, kept the site stable through what must have been incredible strain, and have successfully gotten prediction markets in front of the world (including the Trump campaign). From here it’s a flywheel; victory building on victory. Enough people heard of them this election that they’ll never lack for customers. And maybe Trump’s CFTC will be kinder than Biden’s and relax some of the constraints they’re operating under. They’ve realized the long-time rationalist dream of a widely-used prediction market with high volume, deserve more praise than I can give them here, and I couldn’t be happier with their progress. But I also think their Trump shares were mispriced by about ten cents, and that Trump’s victory in the election doesn’t do much to vindicate their numbers.” [editor’s note: Price is a reflection of value, which is subjective. Absent force or fraud, “mispricing” in an exchange is impossible – TLK (11/07/24)
“Despite the bravado, Trump is no economic mastermind. If he follows through on his across-the-board tariff plan, he may jack up prices high enough to cause a major political backlash, which happened to his beloved William McKinley. An immigration crackdown or mass deportation can also disrupt the labor market, causing negative economic consequences. Considering that Trump can never run for president again, doesn’t care about anyone but himself, doesn’t have to worry about the future of the Republican Party, and rarely listens to sane advice, I see the chances of Trump implementing self-indulgent, economically foolish policies to be high, especially with a cowed GOP-controlled Senate and, possible, a GOP House, to boot. For Democrats, the time is now to correct the narrative and not wait for when Trump screws up.” (11/07/24)
“As the world absorbs the shockwave of Donald Trump’s win in the US presidential election, the playbook for his second term, designed by a handful of right-wing extremists, is already underway in Argentina. Project 2025 is set out in a nearly 900-page ‘Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise,’ produced by the Heritage Foundation, a right-wing U.S. think tank, as a ready reckoner for the incoming Trump administration. It details authoritarian tactics that exist in various parts of the world, from attacking public education to dismantling policies to tackle climate change to restricting the rights of women, LGBTIQ+ people, migrants, workers and Black people. But if there is one country already trying some of Project 2025’s most extreme policies to weaken the state and render the enjoyment of rights obsolete, it is Argentina.” [editor’s note: Posted for your amusement; one more delulu “progressive” pundit incapable of letting go of the hoaxes – SAT] (11/07/24)
“The most important and globally misunderstood aspect of tariffs is their impact on the stock market. History has demonstrated that tariffs can cause immediate market corrections and destroy investor capital. They also backfire on American manufacturers and consumers. Tariffs may be aimed at foreign companies and governments, but their domestic consequences are often far greater. Advocates for protectionist measures on steel, lumber, electric vehicles, and other products fail to understand that everyone who invests in the stock market has suffered losses because of this policy.” (11/07/24)
“America’s presidential elections are a great survey of public opinion as well as a call to action. Yet while Donald Trump won both the popular vote and the Electoral College on Nov. 5, it could be that the exit polls will drive the course of his second term. The theme of those polls? Americans seek a restoration of past norms of balance or harmony – balance in the economy for Trump supporters and, for those who voted for Kamala Harris, harmony in democratic norms. Among the third of voters who identified the economy as their primary concern, 79% chose Mr. Trump, according to Edison Research’s exit polls. More specifically, 73% who see inflation as a severe hardship voted for the Republican candidate.” (11/06/24)
