Krugman: NYT: OP ED: The Ghost of Trump Chaos Future Sorry, investors, but there is no sanity clause
12/24 The Ghost of Trump Chaos Future Sorry, investors, but there is no sanity clause.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/24/opinion/trump-economy-stock-market.html?action=click&module=Opinion&pgtype=Homepage
Two years ago, after the shock of Donald Trumps election, financial markets briefly freaked out, then quickly recovered. In effect, they decided that while Trump was manifestly unqualified for the job, temperamentally and intellectually, it wouldnt matter. He might talk the populist talk, but hed walk the plutocratic walk. He might be erratic and uninformed, but wiser heads would keep him from doing anything too stupid.
In other words, investors convinced themselves that they had a deal: Trump might sound off, but he wouldnt really get to make policy. And, hey, taxes on corporations and the wealthy would go down.
But now, just in time for Christmas, people are realizing that there was no such deal or at any rate, that there wasnt a sanity clause. (Sorry, couldnt help myself.) Put an unstable, ignorant, belligerent man in the Oval Office, and he will eventually do crazy things.
Lets be clear: There isnt an obvious crisis-level threat looming at the moment. But growth is slowing, and as the bumper stickers dont quite say, stuff happens. And if and when it does, the people who would be supposed to deal with it are the gang that cant think straight. Merry Christmas.