Bill Bonner

The US automobile industry, for example, lost 28,000 jobs last year. And tariffs were meant to close the trade gap; but the gap just opened wider than ever.

Poor Donald Trump. His approval ratings keep falling.

We keep our spirits up by realizing that no matter how awful things get, they could be worse. And today…we take a peek at what ‘worse’ we’re talking about.

The war against ‘terror’ was always destined to blow back on the US. Now, we have ‘domestic terrorists’ on our streets. Or, so they say.

One of the charms of democracy is that its elections and succession rules avoid murderous power struggles. But once the rules go out the window, violence tends to come in the front door.

Over the centuries, humans learned to deal with uncertainty by following rules. They follow the rules of Moses, the Constitution, habeas corpus, the First Amendment, due process and so forth.

Hey… here’s a new use for that tariff duct tape: forcing the foreigners to join his shammy Board of Peace.

When that liquidity preference gives way to an illiquidity preference — in which they begin to feel they’re getting ripped off — the foreigners will get rid of dollars as fast as possible.

The key circumstance of 2026 is that the Donald Trump’s dominion depends on the bubble-era dollar…and the dollar depends on the willingness of foreigners to take it.

Saving is suspect. Scrooge saved his money. Jesus tells of a master, who berated his servant, for saving his money rather than investing it. And King Midas, turning everything into gold, starved.