Ben Stiller

So, you know, I asked this question to a lot of economists over the past couple of weeks. And people will say, in theory, the idea of short-term pain for long-term gain can be reasonable, right? This is harsh medicine, but we need it. But you better be darn certain. of the long-term gain.

And what you hear almost universally from basically every economist, every expert, is that is not what this is. First of all, there's really no need for this harsh medicine right now. The economy is in basically pretty decent shape. But secondly, this specific medicine, this isn't a harsh medicine, a chemotherapy that will generate a cure. This is bloodletting, right?

And what you hear almost universally from basically every economist, every expert, is that is not what this is. First of all, there's really no need for this harsh medicine right now. The economy is in basically pretty decent shape. But secondly, this specific medicine, this isn't a harsh medicine, a chemotherapy that will generate a cure. This is bloodletting, right?

This is a medicine that will actually make the problem worse.

This is a medicine that will actually make the problem worse.

Yeah, I mean, I would go further, right? It's not just that they're not certain there would be long-term gain. They're confident that these policies will not yield a long-term gain. Why? Look, anytime we say economists say, right? Somebody should shock me, right? Because economists think many, many different things. This is sort of like- Shock.

Yeah, I mean, I would go further, right? It's not just that they're not certain there would be long-term gain. They're confident that these policies will not yield a long-term gain. Why? Look, anytime we say economists say, right? Somebody should shock me, right? Because economists think many, many different things. This is sort of like- Shock.

This is sort of the one thing that economists almost universally agree upon. is that tariffs are ultimately a damaging policy, or at least that these kinds of broad-based tariffs are a damaging policy. Now, there are different reasons for this, and this is a complex subject. There are a lot of economists who reject the very idea that we need to reindustrialize the country in some way.

This is sort of the one thing that economists almost universally agree upon. is that tariffs are ultimately a damaging policy, or at least that these kinds of broad-based tariffs are a damaging policy. Now, there are different reasons for this, and this is a complex subject. There are a lot of economists who reject the very idea that we need to reindustrialize the country in some way.

They argue that over the decades, free trade has left Americans better off on the whole, that even if it has hurt some people, that on average it has been beneficial. I think most economists would make that point. But there's certainly been a lot of rethinking among at least some economists over the past couple of decades about the way that free trade has played out. Mm-hmm.

They argue that over the decades, free trade has left Americans better off on the whole, that even if it has hurt some people, that on average it has been beneficial. I think most economists would make that point. But there's certainly been a lot of rethinking among at least some economists over the past couple of decades about the way that free trade has played out. Mm-hmm.

again, complicated subject. But I think the thing that there's pretty broad-based agreement about is we can't just turn the clock back. We're not going to make T-shirts in this country again. We're not going to make, you know, commodity furniture in this country. And there are plenty of economists who would say we should be doing things now to preserve the manufacturing jobs that we do have.

again, complicated subject. But I think the thing that there's pretty broad-based agreement about is we can't just turn the clock back. We're not going to make T-shirts in this country again. We're not going to make, you know, commodity furniture in this country. And there are plenty of economists who would say we should be doing things now to preserve the manufacturing jobs that we do have.

And especially in some important sectors, right, in robotics, in AI, in green energy, in chips. These are areas where there may be real advantages to preserving the American manufacturing industry. But broad-based tariffs of the kind that Trump is talking about are just not going to accomplish that.

And especially in some important sectors, right, in robotics, in AI, in green energy, in chips. These are areas where there may be real advantages to preserving the American manufacturing industry. But broad-based tariffs of the kind that Trump is talking about are just not going to accomplish that.

He's undeterred, but in a way it's even worse than that. Which is that so far he's been all over the map. We've seen tariffs announced and then they've been delayed. They've been imposed and then they've been paused. In some cases within days, in some cases on the same day, right, within hours. And if you talk to businesses, right, they don't like tariffs.

He's undeterred, but in a way it's even worse than that. Which is that so far he's been all over the map. We've seen tariffs announced and then they've been delayed. They've been imposed and then they've been paused. In some cases within days, in some cases on the same day, right, within hours. And if you talk to businesses, right, they don't like tariffs.

But what they really don't like is having no idea. They don't like uncertainty. They don't like uncertainty. Right. If you're a business right now trying to decide where to buy your goods from, where to locate your factory, you have no idea what the policy is going to be a week, a month, a year from now. And you could easily imagine businesses just sort of pressing pause and saying, you know what?

But what they really don't like is having no idea. They don't like uncertainty. They don't like uncertainty. Right. If you're a business right now trying to decide where to buy your goods from, where to locate your factory, you have no idea what the policy is going to be a week, a month, a year from now. And you could easily imagine businesses just sort of pressing pause and saying, you know what?

Let's hold off. Let's see where things are when the dust settles. And that has real economic consequences if they're not hiring, if they're not investing, and the downstream of that, right, so they're not hiring construction workers and they're not buying materials. All of that is the kind of thing that ripples through an economy and can cause a recession.