President Donald Trump’s dismissive response about studying the economic impact of his sweeping tariff proposals has predictably set off entirely too late concerns about a potentially dangerous alliance between political power and technocratic influence—one that could reshape American society.
“No, there’s nothing to study. It’s gonna go well,” Trump nonchalantly declared when asked if he would direct agencies to analyze how his proposed tariffs would affect U.S. prices. The president’s rejection of practical analysis echoes a general pattern of governing by decree rather than data.
This casual dismissal of economic expertise comes as Trump advances an aggressive tariff agenda that initially imposed 25% duties on Canadian and Mexican imports and 10% on Chinese goods. The Peterson Institute for International Economics projects these measures could reduce U.S. GDP by $45 billion, with retaliatory tariffs pushing losses to $75 billion.
“It’s inconceivable that other countries won’t retaliate,” said economist Joseph Stiglitz, as reported by The Century Foundation. “Even if some of the governments might not want to retaliate, their citizens will demand that you can’t allow yourself to be beaten up. When you make like a gorilla thumping on his chest, are countries just going to say, ‘Are we chopped liver?’ Their politics will demand that they do something.”
Marcus Noland, executive vice president of the Peterson Institute, added, “The impact of imposing these tariffs will have the effect of depressing U.S. economic growth, contributing to a higher rate of inflation, and those effects will be worse if the other countries retaliate in kind.”
And they did, of course, with Canada placing 25% retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods, though they reached an agreement (along with Mexico) for a 30-day pause on any tariffs in either direction. All of this feels like a performance.
Implementing this potentially transformative U.S. economic policy has been entrusted to an unusual pair: Howard Lutnick, Trump’s Commerce Secretary nominee and former Cantor Fitzgerald CEO, and Elon Musk, a South African citizen who leads the newly created Department of Government Efficiency. Their collaboration signals a shift toward governance by billionaire technocrats operating with a fig leaf of oversight.
Musk’s dual role as a major industrial player and government official—seemingly illegal or at least in high question for immediate investigation—exemplifies this problematic (at worst) fusion. His companies, Tesla and SpaceX, face direct impact from the tariffs, yet he simultaneously shapes their implementation through his government position. This arrangement has raised ethical concerns among experts.
“It’s an obvious conflict,” notes Richard Painter, former chief White House ethics lawyer under George W. Bush. “We don’t know whether he’s in the government or out of it.”
The Tax Foundation estimates Trump’s tariff proposal could eliminate 684,000 American jobs, with manufacturing states bearing the heaviest losses. Yet these economic warnings have done little to deter the administration’s push toward what critics call “government by plutocracy.”
Some analysts suggest the apparent recklessness of dismissing economic analysis is masking a more calculated strategy that might not have anything to do with Trump. By destabilizing existing economic structures and regulatory frameworks, Trump essentially has become a minion with a crown, a blind guard at the gate, for his technocratic bosses, creating conditions that favor their vision of a society where billionaire-led corporations assume many traditional government functions.
The administration’s refusal to study the tariffs’ effects parallels a bizarrre approach to other complex challenges, from climate change to healthcare, for which Trump put manifestly unqualified individuals in charge of people’s lives. This systematic rejection of expert analysis, combined with the elevation of wealthy technocrats (like Musk) to positions of power, suggests a broader agenda to remake American governance—or at least make it palatable for resurgent conquest even after Trump is gone. Trump remains adamant that his tariffs “will go well,” even as economists project significant damage to the American people—primarily those who voted for him.
Published: Feb 16, 2025 08:57 am