Earlier quoted context omitted.
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Actually, that’s what called an evidence-based conclusion. I know evidence and science have really taken a plunge in our federal government these past few months, but we can still use them on HN.
Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything
511–520 of 704 posts
Re: Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything
#512Earlier quoted context omitted.
This argument has been made time and time again. It seems reasonable at first glance, but I’ve seen no proof of it. California, usually mentioned as having high taxes, still has a large percentage of the ultra-wealthy in the USA. Same with NYC. Sure some notable persons have changed their addresses, but overall, they are they hurting? Is there any documented case of a rich-popular municipality increasing taxes on the…
That is one of those questions where if you're asking it, I do question how serous you are in seeking out answers. It is mathematically guaranteed that an optimal rate exists, the topic has been an ongoing research question for several centuries and it is hard to avoid if you spend time arguing economics. Wikipedia points out [0] that scholars dating back to Ibn Khaldun have been working on the topic of pinpointing a…
So just to be clear: there is some undetermined optimal number, but so far no place has determined it and no place gone on the other side of it such that the ultra-wealthy left any particular area of note, causing a decrease in tax revenue. Got it. Thanks for the info!
Re: Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything
#513Earlier quoted context omitted.
the US has the highest class mobility among western nations Source? The rankings I see have the US behind most of Europe.
The average European is poorer than the average person from Mississippi, the US’ poorest state. It isn’t even comparable
"Poorer" in what aspect(s), exactly? Because not everything is about gross monetary amounts when it comes to a good life. Even the poorest of the European nations (never mind that EU !== Europe, and that by invoking Europe you're also talking about the countries with the highest QoLs in the entire world like the Scandinavians) still have superior worker protections & medical infrastructure that doesn't leave the poor in generational debt than the US, which for me both rank infinitely higher than earning more money. I'm sure the poor Mississippians wouldn't mind some of those 30+ paid vacation days my Spanish friends get in exchange for earning a bit less.
Re: Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything
#514Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, 人民民主专政. A socialist state under the people's democratic dictatorship led by the working class and based on the alliance of workers and peasants. I think you're ignoring some of the poetic intention of those words, the idea is that the Marxist collective is the dictator. It's turning the concept on its head to put the people at the forefront. In other contexts such as casual conversation here in the West the term…
So it is a tyranny of the majority? That's not the vibe I get from China at all.
I wouldn't have said that either, no. What vibes do you get?
Re: Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything
#515FWIW, we’ve been affected by the tariffs (10% for now; we import mainly from Vietnam and Thailand at this point). Did our second price increase a few weeks ago. We’ll probably test out how much the market will bear because operating in this market really demands a risk premium. So far it’s not as crazy as the pandemic supply chain crisis, but it’s close. The most insane ending to all of this that I can imagine is tha…
> The most insane ending to all of this that I can imagine The most insane ending is that tarrifs are reverted but most of the price hike will stay for good.
Why would that happen, if it didn’t happen before the tarrifs?
Re: Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything
#516Earlier quoted context omitted.
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That seems extremely unlikely given the significant global economic impact of tariffs, and the comparatively microscopic effect of transgender athletic participation in the United States. For example, when Kentucky passed their trans sports ban in 2022, there was a grand total of one (1) transgender high school athlete in the state[0]. I mean, it's almost laughable to suggest that any of those things are even near co…
They are related in the sense that stuff like violent crime by ethnic gangs and transgender affirmation of children easily rile up people to Trump or others who will bluntly oppose it, and then you end up with poorly designed tariffs.
It was largely a failure of anti tariff other candidates to capture these other 'easy wins' needed to get to the point of implementing sane economic policy.
Re: Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything
#517In NYC, for the first 6 months of 2025, 994 new private sector jobs were created [1]. During the same period last year, there were 66,000 new jobs created. Higher cost of doing business from tariffs has frozen hiring. With a frozen job market, there’s less revenue coming in. NYC is a leading indicator for the rest of the country. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/13/nyregion/nyc-jobs.html
It looks to me like we hit the end of the debt cycle. The market was predicting this by the end of the fall last year before Trump was even elected.
I don't think not doing tariffs would have had much of an effect.
Re: Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything
#518Trump is even using Tariff threats to strong-arm other countries to retreat on their climate goals [1]. If the Supreme Court agrees that the Trump can do this then that means we have a dictator — one that will do way more harm than the one in North Korea. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/climate/trump-internation...
Don't forget tariffs in response to countries enforcing their own laws against an attempted military coup. We're paying higher prices on coffee because President Trump's friend is being charged with trying to overthrow the Brazilian government. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-...
Ans tariffs in response to India not nominating Trump for Nobel peace prize!
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/30/us/politics/trump-modi-in...
Re: Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything
#519[flagged]
Comments should get more thoughtful and substantive, not less, as a topic gets more divisive.
Eschew flamebait. Avoid generic tangents. Omit internet tropes.
Please don't use Hacker News for political or ideological battle. It tramples curiosity.
https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
We detached this subthread from https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45079542 and marked it off topic.
Re: Six months into tariffs, businesses have no idea how to price anything
#520Earlier quoted context omitted.
Economic theory makes some unsubstantiated assumptions, like consumers have information needed to make decisions, and those decisions are rational. In the real world the market is determined by external events that consumers have no way to know.
"Risk" is the term for unknown information, and is priced in.
How can they even price it if there is no model for (true instead of theoretical) risk?