Ed Elson

I mean, if we see oil consistently remaining at, I mean, let's call it $150, maybe $200 a barrel.

I mean, the implications are tremendous here.

And it all comes back to literally like, what is this guy going to do?

And do we believe him?

And it reminds me of Greenland.

It reminds me of the tariffs.

And then it just brings up this question like, are we in the same position again?

Where we're basically just hanging on to his every word, making decisions about his every word, which often just don't pan out to be even true.

Do you think that this kind of goes back to Taco, where, I mean, the whole premise of Taco was Trump threatened something crazy, and then the markets throw up, and then he gets worried because he values the opinion of the markets, or he values the dollars that are related to those investment decisions, and then he tacos, he chickens out.

And then it became a question of...

maybe he's immune to taco at this point.

Or maybe the markets aren't reacting anymore to sort of front-run the taco, which means that we no longer have this regulating effect where the markets basically slap him on the wrist and tell him to do the right thing.

Like...

What do you think the relationship between the markets and Trump's decision-making actually is at this point?

And is that relationship still strong as it seems to be back during the tariffs of last year?

Right.

The economic implications here are numerous, and it's kind of hard to put any numbers on it.

I'm just wondering, when you teach your students over at U Michigan, I assume that what's happening in the news is making its way into your classes and into your lectures.

What kinds of takeaways are you trying to convey to your students right now in the middle of this moment?

Okay.