By michael vivar
The first two months of Donald Trump's presidency have been tumultuous. His return to office began with a flurry of executive orders including gutting federal DEI policies and FEMA.
This was followed by tasking Elon Musk's unelected DOGE group with taking a hatchet to organizations like USAID and nuclear maintenance/inspection agencies.
The last week of Feb, Trump had to be corrected by the leaders of France and the UK on Ukraine policy. It concluded with a rhetorical ambush on President Zelensky that left the world stunned.
President Donald Trump's policies, or lack thereof, that are showing the most immediate effect have been on tariffs.
The beginning of March saw Trump decree a massive 25% tariff on goods from literally and figuratively close allies, Canada and Mexico. This would raise prices for Americans.
After speaking with Mexican President Sheinbaum, Trump put a two-week moratorium on Mexican import/export surcharges. The same was shortly announced for Canadian goods.
Trump has been a consistently vocal proponent of tariffs since his first term. His mercurial actions belie his intent. They exude an impression of volatility and ambivalence.
Uncertainty is a stock market's biggest vulnerability. Fluctuating policy proclamations caused all three US indexes, the Dow, S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite to fall in March.
Current market predictions are grim and having knock-on effects. US-based employers estimate over 172,000 job cuts in March, a 107% increase over the previous month.
It should be noted that tariffs and other isolationist policies were factors that contributed to the 1929 stock crash. Market experts foresee a dark road if current conditions persist.
"After 1929, so many people had been traumatized by the stock market crash that there was a lost generation." - Ron Chernow, Pulitzer Prize winning American author