Tariffs and monopolies

I'm on a 20+ city book tour for my new novel PICKS AND SHOVELS. Catch me in PITTSBURGH on May 15 at WHITE WHALE BOOKS, and in PDX on Jun 20 at BARNES AND NOBLE. More tour dates here.

For all that orthodox economists hate tariffs in all their forms, the question, "do tariffs work?" is a complex one, which can't be answered unless you specify which tariffs, in what context:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/04/02/me-or-your-lying-eyes/#spherical-cows-on-frictionless-surfaces

The orthodox case against tariffs goes like this: tariffs raise the price of goods before they reach the market. Sellers will raise the price of goods to recover those costs from buyers, so it's you, the person buying a car, a phone, or a board-game, who will bear that additional cost:

https://www.sjgames.com/ill/archive/April_03_2025/Tariffs_Are_Driving_Up_Game_Prices_Now

As is ever the case with economics, this critique builds in certain assumptions. And as is especially the case with neoliberal economics, this critique builds in certain assumptions that are never tested for veracity – indeed, neoliberal economists pride themselves on their reliance on incorrect assumptions:

https://pluralistic.net/2025/02/17/caliper-ai/#racism-machine

The main assumption built into the orthodox case against tariffs is that sellers can't afford to eat the costs of tariffs. In the thought-experiment land of neoliberalism, market competition erodes sellers' profits so that everything being sold is only slightly marked up above the cost of making it, getting it to the store and selling it to you. Companies are said to be making a "competitive" rate of profit, which is tautologically defined as "whatever profit they're making." If Nike pays $20 to make a pair of shoes in Vietnam that it sells in America for $140, that $120 profit is "competitive" – if it wasn't, it would be lower, and it isn't, so it is.

Trump's own explanation for how the tariffs will work is no better. Trump has made a variety of incoherent claims about who will pay the tariffs. On the campaign trail, he insisted that the tariffs would somehow be paid by America's trading partners, either by their governments or by overseas companies. This is literally untrue: when you order something from overseas, the customs broker sends the bill to you, not the company that sold you the goods.

But the smarter elements in the Trump orbit have a slightly more reality-based theory: they claim that importers, faced with tariff costs, will push back on sellers and insist that they discount their products to offset the tariff bill. That's how the costs end up being paid by foreign sellers – and if their governments step in to help pay the bill, that's how foreign governments will pay the bill.

This explanation has the benefit of actually being an explanation, in that it is a series of cause-and-effect relationships that end up with the costs being borne by someone other than stateside buyers. However, this explanation is also founded on (at least) two demonstrably untrue assumptions: first, that buyers have the power to force sellers to lower their prices; and second, that this power comes from the availability of substitute goods that are made (or could be made) in the USA.

It's possible for there to be a market economy in which buyers can force sellers to eat tariff costs. For that to happen, the buyers have to be in real competition with one another. Competition requires competitors: companies that consider themselves rivals, directly attacking one another's margins. But that's not how American big business operates: 40 years of lax antitrust enforcement has produced an American economy in which nearly every sector is dominated by a monopoly, a duopoly, or a cartel:

https://www.openmarketsinstitute.org/learn/monopoly-by-the-numbers

Long read, but worth it to become more educated.

My 11-month male cat lets my foster kittens nurse on him.

(Source)

im sorry these are the funniest tags ive ever seen

Sea kitties

"it's all in your head" correct! unfortunately I am also in there

things i’ll not call you a whore for:

things i’ll call you a whore for:

why are lemons separate from food op?

everyone knows lemons arent food

lemon stealing whores are a huge issue separate from food stealing whores. there’s a whole documentary about whores stealing lemons from the trees of unsuspecting victims. you can see the first two minutes of it here.

Thats a rickroll. That totally is a fucking rickroll. No fukin way. Not falling for it.

dude, trust me, that isn’t a rick roll. its something worse

Me to the rest of tumblr after actually watching what was in the link:

…I really don’t know what I was expecting.

What the fuck did i just watch.

It- it’s not a Rick roll

Have we really reached a time when the Lemon Stealing Whores are no longer common knowledge.

I prefer this version which doesn’t have the music/meme edit.

They call it RTX 5090 because when you see it costs $5090 youll turn 5090 degrees and walk away.

In Prince's funky name, amen.

Millennial here. All the above and:

Please send me the training or tutorial in a written format with maybe some screenshots if necessary. I don't want a video tutorial. I don't want to waste time trying to scroll to the exact moment in the instructions that I need and then have to pause and replay it because I missed the .01 seconds of actually relevant information.

Please. Text. Maybe some images for clarification. I can read. I promise.

Skimmable, SEARCHABLE instructions. If they're long, there should be a hyperlinked table of contents.

My HORRIFYING cartoon for this week’s Guardian Books.

They’re scared because they know that the public is with Luigi.

They’re violating his rights because they need to maintain capitalism.

Keep talking about Luigi.

“The dossier adds that the public ‘may view the ensuing manhunt and subsequent arrest of Mangione as NYPD, and largely policing as a whole, as a tool that is willing to expend massive resources to protect the wealthy, while the average citizen is left to their own means for personal security.’”

No, really?

I feel so sorry for this clearly innocent kid who got caught up as the scapegoat for a justified murder he clearly didn’t commit.

But on the bright side, it’s starting to look like a No-Win situation for the capitalist pigs prosecution in this case.

Finding an “impartial” jury is going to be next to impossible, but even if they manage somehow the verdict is still going to have an explosive effect on the public. If he’s convicted it will almost certainly look like the trial was rigged (which it most definitely is) and will likely cause a backlash of support for him. If he’s somehow miraculously exonerated it will be received as a joyful victory for the people and hopefully possibly inspire more copycats.

If they kill him he becomes a martyr. If they set him free he becomes even more of a folk hero than he already is.

fantasy pixel castles my beloved

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STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION (1987 to 1994) - Behind the Scenes

don’t forget your pills!

SHOHREH AGHDASHLOO: It was incredible. I've worked in Hollywood for 50 years—half a century. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before. As soon as I was done with The Expanse, the fans of The Expanse and those who liked my work on The Expanse, they started saying, “We need to find her another TV series because we want to see her at work.” I thought, “Oh my god, I’m at home. I’m no longer ‘that strange actor’ coming from the other half of the world.” I am at home with them, with my family, who want to see me again, who want me to keep working. I was so surprised and shocked to some point

Then [fans] started saying, “Yes, she should come to The Wheel of Time, and she can do a good job with the series.” At that point, my social media person said, “Shoreh, you need to say something here. The numbers are going.” I said, “I cannot believe this.” I was still in the process of understanding and digesting the thought of being in The Wheel of Time, chosen by my fans—obviously The Expanse fans, and then the ones who like my work. Again, I couldn’t say anything.

They didn’t stop. I could write a book about this. After two days, [the fans] came up with the idea that I should play Cadsuane. Then, again, I was thinking, “What to say? What not to say?” I said, “Why do you want me to play Cadsuane?” They said, “Because her character’s as strong as Avasarala in The Expanse.” I was so proud of myself, and then the fact that I had a family now, and the family was thinking of me. Again, I said, “Well, it’s not for me to initiate. Let’s go find a showrunner!” One of them came up with his name: the amazing Rafe Judkins, our showrunner—one of the best showrunners I’ve ever worked with. He started DMing, saying, “Yes, she's been on our radar since 2018, but we knew she was busy with The Expanse. She’s not busy anymore? Bring her over.” Two weeks after, I received an offer from Rafe.

i’m going to burst into tears. such a hauntingly stupid and wonderful phrase to immortalize somewhere. LOOK AT PIttbert!