Jerome Powell says that he needs hard data on the tariffs, and the effect they have on inflation, before he lowers interest rates.

Here is some information that should help if he really cares:

China is massively manipulating its currency to keep its prices down and factories humming to offset the tariffs. Just like in Trump’s first term, China is eating a lot of the tariffs, meaning they would have little effect on inflation in the U.S.

Ford says it is discounting the price of its cars until June. If Ford lowers its prices, the other car companies won’t raise prices much.

Walmart says it will work extremely hard to keep its prices low which means other retailers like Amazon will have to follow.

Trump is getting rid of the destructive regulations of the Biden administration, which sought to destroy coal, oil, and natural gas industries. Somehow, Powell never complained about the inflation caused by Biden’s energy policies, yet he complains loudly about potential price increases possibly caused by tariffs.

Thank goodness Trump is allowing coal and natural gas power plants to stay open; the inflationary aspects of destroying them were massive, and now we can power AI, cryptocurrency, and data centers.

Trump is allowing freedom of choice again on showers, toilets, cars, trucks, and appliances, which will clearly reduce inflationary pressures on prices. Thankfully we won’t have to flush a toilet two or three times to remove the contents. Maybe it will be easier to keep public restrooms clean.

As Trump has closed the border, it has taken pressure off the prices of everything, and will reduce government spending by hundreds of billions—including on Medicare, Social Security, and Medicaid. I knew that Powell lacked common sense when he said letting in millions of illegals each year didn’t cause inflation.

Trump is working very hard to reduce the bloated government, and somehow Powell hasn’t supported not printing more money, which causes inflation.

Powell has kept short-term interest rates artificially higher than what the market rates are for two-, five-, or ten-year bonds. That makes things cost more, and is clearly inflationary and makes the deficit and overall debt worse.

And here is some hard data on commodity prices. (The prices can be found every day at Yahoo Finance.)

Crude oil was around $80 per barrel when Trump took office. It was down to $72 on April 2nd when Trump announced the tariffs, and is down to around $61 today—this is down around 15% since the tariffs were announced and 25% since he took office. Crude oil is used in over 6,000 products and energy prices affect everything.

The spot of gasoline was $2.35 on April 2nd, and today it is $2, or down around 15%.

Heating oil was $2.32 and is now $2.07, or down over 10%.

Copper was $5.03 on April 2nd and is now $4.37, or down around 13%.

Lumber was $ 6.62 and is now $5.98, or down around 10%.

Commodity deflation will certainly offset tariffs to a great degree.

Today, the consumer price index came out at negative .1, which is the lowest since the last time Trump was in office. 

How much hard data does Powell need before he does his job?

For decades, China and other countries have put barriers on U.S. companies, and tariffs to prevent imports. 90,000 factories in the U.S. have closed. Pelosi, Schumer, and other politicians have repeatedly complained about China stealing our jobs, and have done nothing to stop it.

On Wednesday, CNBC had on Elizabeth Warren—who lied about her heritage to get a high paying job at Harvard—to trash Trump's tariff policies. She said Trump’s policies had no rhyme or reason. Why would anyone believe Warren or any Democrat on economics when they wholeheartedly supported Biden’s policies that did cause high inflation?

Trump’s policies on tariffs are very sensible. He knew that if he went around to countries one by one and begged he would essentially get nothing done just like previous politicians, so he opted for shock and awe—and suddenly over 75 countries have come to him asking what they can do.

The WSJ and other media outlets, along with so-called experts, have worked to scare the public and in the last few days put out one of their most pathetic editorial pieces yet. They said Trump’s policies to bring factories back and make China pay high tariffs helps China:

U.S. Tariffs Make Xi Jinping’s Day

Trump’s global trade war is a strategic gift to the Chinese President.

That is as idiotic as Powell saying that letting in millions of illegals doesn’t contribute to inflation.

Here is how media polls work. The media seeks to indoctrinate the public for months or years on a policy like tariffs, or the climate, and then they ask 1,000 people what they think with staged questions. It is no surprise that a lot of people believe what they are repeatedly told so they get the results they want.

Image: Public domain.