Tabby Thursday
Steven L. Taylor
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Thursday, December 11, 2025
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3 comments
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor Emeritus of Political Science and former College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored
A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog).
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Paul Krugman claimed in a recent substack El Taco cannot admit there’s anything wrong with an economy he’s in charge of, even if his own policies are clearly causing problems.
It’s not uncommon for a change in policy to make things worse before it manages to improve them. Now, I don’t think the Taco Tariffs are going to lead to any kind of general improvement. they will have some effects, naturally, and there will be winners and losers, there always are even when conditions overall do improve. But even if they were, they won’t do it right away; and less so when they keep changing so one cannot plan for the next day, much less for the next year.
So, El Taco can’t even say his policies will take time to bear fruit. When a magical incantation is used, the effects are immediate. He said “TARIFFS!!111!!1” and that’s the end of it. Things are better now. Things got better the second he said it. Why do you persist in believing what you see and experience over his claims? You must have Taco Derangement Syndrome!
@Kathy: Any number of pundits lately seem to have twigged to the fact Trump could have chosen to do nothing and taken credit for the improving economy he inherited. But no, he had to meddle. Tariffs are, almost definitionally, inflationary. He could have put them in place, preferably legally by pushing them through congress, and it would be a one-shot inflation hit, soon over. But no, he has to keep screwing around. And now we’re waiting to see whether Roberts and his accomplices will bless Trump’s illegal tariffs.
@Kathy: Any number of pundits lately seem to have twigged to the fact Trump could have chosen to do nothing and taken credit for the improving economy he inherited. But no, he had to meddle. Tariffs are, almost definitionally, inflationary. He could have put them in place, preferably legally by pushing them through congress, and it would be a one-shot inflation hit, soon over. But no, he has to keep screwing around. And now we’re waiting to see whether Roberts and his accomplices will bless Trump’s illegal tariffs.