Why too many cooks in the kitchen isn’t always a bad thing: The White House issues a decision, markets crash/soar on the news, emerging markets (including Egypt) react, and then the man behind it all says “Nevermind.” Cue another chain reaction. This has been the scenario unfolding during much of US President Donald Trump’s second term in the oval office.
(Tap or click the headline above to read this story with all of the links to external sources.)
Case in point: After introducing a new 10% baseline tariff on all products entering the US — a move that sent markets into a frenzy — the president, based on “instinct,” decided to temporarily spare smartphones, laptops, chips, and other electronics. The move, as The Atlantic puts it, is “a pitch-perfect demonstration of why legislatures are necessary, why checks and balances are useful, and why most one-man dictatorships become poor and corrupt.”
There’s a system in place for a reason: The US Constitution is set in a way to distribute power among different government bodies and the presidency to prevent such impulsive decisions. But that system is failing as the Congress, Cabinet, and courts fail to step in to prevent or oppose any of Trump’s decisions.
If things stay as they are, the consequences could be dire: The article argues that if state entities don’t go back to practicing their roles to “constrain the president […] this cycle of destruction will continue and everyone on the planet will pay the price.”
Moves in the US have a wide-reaching impact: Last week the EGP hit fresh lows against the USD, which was driven by foreign investors exiting the local debt market following Trump’s tariffs decision.