Ignore the stock market Wall Street dealing with painful detox from government spending addiction

Wall Street is puking big time, and the sell buttons are working overtime whenever the word “tariff” passes from Donald Trump’s lips.If you listen to the fat cat community long enough, you’d think Trump has been in office four years rather than four weeks, and that a small trade surcharge on a car from Mexico is leading us into economic Armageddon.I’m no fan of tariffs for lots of reasons, including I hate paying too much for stuff, but I’ve also taken enough econ and studied markets long enough to know that they’re not the end of the world as we know it.

I also know that the Trump economic plan is much more than tariffs; it’s about tax cuts, deleveraging the federal government’s involvement in the private sector and allowing the private sector to thrive.It’s about unleashing the animal spirits of the US entrepreneur through deregulation.Yes, what Trump wants to do — and has to do given the load he was left with — was always destined to create some short-term pain for the long-term gain.So maybe try and ignore the stock market for a bit — or take some of your gains if you’re in it.Either way, if history is any guide, the real economy that most people care about is poised to do just fine given what Trump is planning, and eventually, so will the stock market.Think of the current US economy as a junkie weaning himself off heroin, which is never easy.

It’s been addicted to the heroin of government spending — both monetary and fiscal — for so long that we are running $2 trillion deficits when the economy is growing near 3% with low unemployment as sleepy Joe Biden spent money we didn’t have.The Trump people tell me Biden injected as much as $250 billion into the economy in his final months to get Kamala Harris elected.Again, markets did well, but inflation remained high throughout his presidency, a tax on the working class.

Rich people didn’t care because they can speculate their way around the high price for staples like eggs...