Preston Brashers

I'd love to get to a government that was so small that that you could, but unfortunately, probably we're going to have to have, yeah, it's going to be a while before we can think about getting rid of the income tax and replacing it altogether with tariffs. So, I think those are a little bit overstated claims as to being able to replace it altogether.

But tariffs, the level of tariffs today is significantly less than it was in earlier decades, even within the century, 50, 60 years ago, we've worked to reduce trade barriers and a lot of other countries have as well. So trade barriers are relatively low. There's been obviously a big push towards globalization, not just in the US, but other countries as well. That's kind of where we're at.

But tariffs, the level of tariffs today is significantly less than it was in earlier decades, even within the century, 50, 60 years ago, we've worked to reduce trade barriers and a lot of other countries have as well. So trade barriers are relatively low. There's been obviously a big push towards globalization, not just in the US, but other countries as well. That's kind of where we're at.

But tariffs, the level of tariffs today is significantly less than it was in earlier decades, even within the century, 50, 60 years ago, we've worked to reduce trade barriers and a lot of other countries have as well. So trade barriers are relatively low. There's been obviously a big push towards globalization, not just in the US, but other countries as well. That's kind of where we're at.

Maybe there's a little bit of buyer's remorse in some ways, especially with respect to China. A lot of people are questioning whether it was a good idea to let them into the WTO and open up trade relationships. I think a lot of what this is about probably is that China angle. It's one thing to have good relationships and open and free trade with our allies and free countries.

Maybe there's a little bit of buyer's remorse in some ways, especially with respect to China. A lot of people are questioning whether it was a good idea to let them into the WTO and open up trade relationships. I think a lot of what this is about probably is that China angle. It's one thing to have good relationships and open and free trade with our allies and free countries.

Maybe there's a little bit of buyer's remorse in some ways, especially with respect to China. A lot of people are questioning whether it was a good idea to let them into the WTO and open up trade relationships. I think a lot of what this is about probably is that China angle. It's one thing to have good relationships and open and free trade with our allies and free countries.

I think people have a very different mindset about it when it comes to China, though.

I think people have a very different mindset about it when it comes to China, though.

I think people have a very different mindset about it when it comes to China, though.

I think with anything, there's trade-offs. People should be realistic about those trade-offs. I'm an economist. Economics is all about trade-offs. There might be some economic pain that comes with it. You might see that some prices will go up as a result of tariffs, but if there's a consideration to national security and other things where we think that that's necessary.

I think with anything, there's trade-offs. People should be realistic about those trade-offs. I'm an economist. Economics is all about trade-offs. There might be some economic pain that comes with it. You might see that some prices will go up as a result of tariffs, but if there's a consideration to national security and other things where we think that that's necessary.

I think with anything, there's trade-offs. People should be realistic about those trade-offs. I'm an economist. Economics is all about trade-offs. There might be some economic pain that comes with it. You might see that some prices will go up as a result of tariffs, but if there's a consideration to national security and other things where we think that that's necessary.

I'm not an international relations expert. I defer to some extent to people that are on some of these things, but there's obviously a case to be made that certainly China has not been a good actor in a lot of cases. I talked to companies leaders of companies all the time that will talk about IP theft, dumping of products, things of that nature.

I'm not an international relations expert. I defer to some extent to people that are on some of these things, but there's obviously a case to be made that certainly China has not been a good actor in a lot of cases. I talked to companies leaders of companies all the time that will talk about IP theft, dumping of products, things of that nature.

I'm not an international relations expert. I defer to some extent to people that are on some of these things, but there's obviously a case to be made that certainly China has not been a good actor in a lot of cases. I talked to companies leaders of companies all the time that will talk about IP theft, dumping of products, things of that nature.

So certainly China has some unfair trade practices that the US should be concerned with. As a general matter, I'm not a fan of taxation, high taxes in general. I'd like to see trade barriers reduced, and hopefully this can be a way to get to reduce trade barriers with countries that are willing to work with us towards reducing theirs as well.

So certainly China has some unfair trade practices that the US should be concerned with. As a general matter, I'm not a fan of taxation, high taxes in general. I'd like to see trade barriers reduced, and hopefully this can be a way to get to reduce trade barriers with countries that are willing to work with us towards reducing theirs as well.

So certainly China has some unfair trade practices that the US should be concerned with. As a general matter, I'm not a fan of taxation, high taxes in general. I'd like to see trade barriers reduced, and hopefully this can be a way to get to reduce trade barriers with countries that are willing to work with us towards reducing theirs as well.

Yeah, it's a great question. And there's been a little bit of mixed messaging on this. I think the tariffs, the administration and others have spoken of tariffs and the use of tariffs in a lot of different ways. And I think, frankly, they're coming at it from a lot of different angles. They talked about reciprocal tariffs.