https://x.com/JeffFlake/status/2118355575356727470

https://x.com/tedcruz/status/2118125881067487633

1. The US went from net-exporter to net-importer (so: reciprocal and cascading retaliation was not possible on nearly the same scale)

2. Durable goods deflated until they were a small part of the economy

That's why the reaction this time around was a "buy the dip" and not another great depression (although the great depression itself was exceptional, countries successfully wield protectionism all the time, see China). Unfortunately, tariffs are only one component of functional industrial policy. Imagine you are considering investing in a factory: you don't just need protected outputs, you need cheap inputs, available capital, and above all enough stability to reasonably expect to see your returns before one of those pillars gets yanked. Trump got halfway to step 1, so he inflicted most of the damage without even buying a reasonable chance of success. But yes, at least the damage was relatively small, although "he followed it up with Iran which was much worse" isn't much of a consolation.

Trump (come January anyway) is a lame duck now, especially with a blue Congress. He won't get anything substantial through Congress and everyone's attention will will rapidly shift to who is running in 2028.

Almost all of the interconnect backlog is renewables, so this helps renewables far more than it helps fossil interests, but some progressives want to sabotage the bill because it could theoretically help fossil fuel interests. Yet, there's no way a "better" bill would get past filibuster or Trump's veto.

We'll find out if Democrats let the perfect be the enemy of the good enough. Whether they're willing to compromise to get things done.

See https://www.cnbc.com/2026/11/04/data-center-ballot-measures-...

You had a good comment until this line.

With all respect, that's ridiculous analysis. Even if that were true, the election was the day BEFORE yesterday! You're telling me that the entire world of trading and investment was unable to see the obvious news on their televisions and needed to wait an entire trading day before issuing the sell orders? No one was able to front run this?

That's just silly, sorry.