E.J. Antoni

This is part of something called the diamond water paradox, which now that they can make synthetic diamonds, it's not as true anymore. But why is it that even though water is so much more useful, its price is so much less than diamonds, which have almost no utility, right? Especially compared to water.

This is part of something called the diamond water paradox, which now that they can make synthetic diamonds, it's not as true anymore. But why is it that even though water is so much more useful, its price is so much less than diamonds, which have almost no utility, right? Especially compared to water.

This is part of something called the diamond water paradox, which now that they can make synthetic diamonds, it's not as true anymore. But why is it that even though water is so much more useful, its price is so much less than diamonds, which have almost no utility, right? Especially compared to water.

And there's a finite supply of water for what it's worth. It's because water is so much more abundant. Diamonds are so scarce. Yeah. Right. So if you make something less scarce, its value goes down. That's exactly what happened. That's exactly what we did to the dollar. I mean, the Fed literally doubled the assets on its balance sheet, which is the basis of the money supply, essentially.

And there's a finite supply of water for what it's worth. It's because water is so much more abundant. Diamonds are so scarce. Yeah. Right. So if you make something less scarce, its value goes down. That's exactly what happened. That's exactly what we did to the dollar. I mean, the Fed literally doubled the assets on its balance sheet, which is the basis of the money supply, essentially.

And there's a finite supply of water for what it's worth. It's because water is so much more abundant. Diamonds are so scarce. Yeah. Right. So if you make something less scarce, its value goes down. That's exactly what happened. That's exactly what we did to the dollar. I mean, the Fed literally doubled the assets on its balance sheet, which is the basis of the money supply, essentially.

What do you think is going to happen to the value of your currency when you devalue it?

What do you think is going to happen to the value of your currency when you devalue it?

What do you think is going to happen to the value of your currency when you devalue it?

Exactly, exactly. Because you still have, it's not as true as it was in the gold exchange standard, but it's still true today. When other currencies are based off of the value of the dollar or when they use dollars as the basis for their money supply, sure, you increase that supply. You're going to increase the supply and therefore decrease the value of other currencies.

Exactly, exactly. Because you still have, it's not as true as it was in the gold exchange standard, but it's still true today. When other currencies are based off of the value of the dollar or when they use dollars as the basis for their money supply, sure, you increase that supply. You're going to increase the supply and therefore decrease the value of other currencies.

Exactly, exactly. Because you still have, it's not as true as it was in the gold exchange standard, but it's still true today. When other currencies are based off of the value of the dollar or when they use dollars as the basis for their money supply, sure, you increase that supply. You're going to increase the supply and therefore decrease the value of other currencies.

Honestly, it feels a bit of an overreach to call it a deal. This is basically rolling back some but not all of the escalation in terms of tariff rates that we've seen for the last several weeks since April 2nd. And it essentially is an agreement not so much to do anything concrete but to continue talking. So, again, that's a step in the right direction.

Honestly, it feels a bit of an overreach to call it a deal. This is basically rolling back some but not all of the escalation in terms of tariff rates that we've seen for the last several weeks since April 2nd. And it essentially is an agreement not so much to do anything concrete but to continue talking. So, again, that's a step in the right direction.

I don't mean to poo-poo it and say this represents no progress whatsoever. I just don't want to overstate the case and make people think that this is somehow tremendous progress and we have anywhere near the same kind of deal that we do with the UK, for example.

I don't mean to poo-poo it and say this represents no progress whatsoever. I just don't want to overstate the case and make people think that this is somehow tremendous progress and we have anywhere near the same kind of deal that we do with the UK, for example.

Yeah, I think that's a very good way to put it.

Yeah, I think that's a very good way to put it.

Well, it's certainly going to be good for the consumer in the short run. But when we talk to producers, in other words, when we talk to businesses, what we find, Regardless whether they're small or large businesses, the exact same thing. They're all really struggling with the volatility that tariffs have created.

Well, it's certainly going to be good for the consumer in the short run. But when we talk to producers, in other words, when we talk to businesses, what we find, Regardless whether they're small or large businesses, the exact same thing. They're all really struggling with the volatility that tariffs have created.