myrmepropagandist1d ago
If there were a democrat in the white house the stock market would be tanking right now at the news of supply chain chokepoints in oil. But, under Trump the market has reacted much less. It's easy to make the mistake of thinking of the market as a force of nature but it's really just the aggregated decisions of a few thousand wealthy people and institutions.
Show threadmyrmepropagandist1d ago

The market is supposed to be objective and motivated only by profit but these decisions are informed by the biases of those people. Worse, it's deeply informed by what those few thousand wealthy people *think* their peers will do.

So you have people saying "no one believes Trump when he says the war is over, but we expect the market to react to what he says so we will react in anticipation of that... thus creating the reaction."

But, this doesn't go on forever.

Show threadmyrmepropagandist1d ago

At some point what the president says will become irrelevant to the market. His words are already irrelevant to many people, and to many nations because he simply lies far too often. It's like making investment decisions based on the output of a fortune cookie.

The previous observation that the market would be tanking with a democrat in office is based on similar circular logic. "we expect everyone else will pull out so we will move first"

Show threadmyrmepropagandist1d ago

I think there is something deeper at work as well. The thousands of wealthy people who make up the market see Trump as someone who protects their interests. If there is economic pain they expect that he will shield them. This is how many of the ordinary people who support him see it as well.

Both of them are being naive and duped. There is only one person Trump cares about. He might care a little more about rich people, but only because he's a member of that group.

Show threadManc AvGeek1d ago
@futurebird This is precisely the problem I have with "The Stock Market" (and particularly the FTSE100) and "The Economy" being used interchangeably here in the UK.
Stock prices are routinely manipulated, pretty much exclusively to the benefit of the already wealthy, I refer to this as the "imaginary" economy because many valuations are plucked out of thin air - look at the valuations for many tech firms who have never turned a profit, especially in the AI field.
The REAL economy, on the other hand, just chugging along merrily, mostly powered by the less-than-wealthy - this economy is based on the movement of money, often in the form of goods or services, from one person to another - and here is the interesting bit.
Those with the least contribute the most.
The ultra wealthy will spend a bit of their income, and stash the rest in stocks, shares, and offshore accounts.
This is money that is removed from the economy.
Those at the bottom put ~100% (often more) of their income back into the economy, paying bills and buying essentials.
Yet that is ignored in favour of inflated, imaginary valuations of companies that would often be failing if they weren't able to access financing because they are so over valued.
Show threadmyrmepropagandist

@mancavgeek

The market is just like a place where rich people get to vote based on how rich they are and the extent to which we allow it to drive policy and decisions is anti-democratic in the one person one vote view of the world.

Mar 28 at 2:40pmWeb
Show threadManc AvGeek1d ago
@futurebird "No taxation without representation" was the cry that at least partially founded the US, yet today the wealthy pay comparatively little yet have sll the access.