Autarky is the economic concept of producing everything a nation consumes within its own borders. It's been tried numerous times, and inevitably leads at best to high prices and deprivation. At worst, it results in warfare.
Autarky was the official economic model of the Nazi Party after German economist Hjalmar Schacht joined the party in 1926 and after Gregor Strasser was ousted from party influence.* Nazi Germany provides a perfect example of how it doesn't work. Germany was a major industrial power leading up to, during and after World War Two (it still is), but it could never produce enough of anything for its own economy, even in peacetime. Moreover, it didn't have the raw materials to supply all it did produce. It imported 20% of its food supply in the early 1930s, and by the late 1930s the Nazis had only managed to boost that to 83%.
The solution was simple.
What the Germans did have, they could just seize from neighboring countries through war, and then either kill off the native population or subjugate it. That's exactly what it attempted to do. It pursued that murderously in Poland and the Soviet Union, and through vassal states in the form of France, Romania and Spain. Where that proved to be impossible. . . for the time being, it used bullying and threats, such as in regard to Sweden.
Even at that, it was never able to do it.
That seems to be to some extent what Donald Trump is advocating right now.
If we were playing hardball, all we'd do is say we're going to do no trading with Canada. If we did no trading with Canada would save $90 billion.
We could do tremendous good for ourselves by just not trading with countries.. We lose with Mexico $195 billion a year. They have nothing that we have to have, I mean. Hot tamales, tomatoes, a couple of things
Trump seems to believe that by closing the economic border with Canada and Mexico, and everyone else, unless they essentially become vassal states, the US can simply go it alone and not be harmed. Where it's obvious that won't work, we'll force acquisition, as we have now done in Venezuela and keep threatening to do with Greenland.
This is immoral, and stupid.
You'd think that a guy who went to Wharton would have a basic grasp of economics. Open economic borders, truly open economic borders, make countries rich, not poor. That doesn't mean that there's never a place for tariffs, including for protectionism, but it's generally a bad idea.
What makes for more sense is for the United States, Mexico, and Canada, to have a seamless economy with no tariffs at all. The US and Canada had a nearly duty free relationship prior to Trump, save for the infamous very high ones on dairy, poultry, and egg products. Those latter tariffs were absurd, but the US also has absurd tariffs in the agricultural sector. The US relationship with Mexico is, right now, duty free.
An absolute lack of tariffs is how it should be between the three major North American economies. Only an an economic ignoramus would disrupt that.
And only an immoral person would advocate taking the oil of another nation that is providing it under the gun. The US has been an oil addict for a century, but was showing signs of getting off the stuff. Trump, with his "it's always the 1950s" mindset can't seem to get out of that.
Trump should really know better. Wharton has a reputation as one of the best, maybe the best, business school in the country. He owes us an explanation, which he seems to be incapable of articulating, for his idiotic economic views. Wharton, and I'm serious about this, does as well. I know one Wharton graduate personally, and he is brilliant. But the example of Donald Trump is to weird to explain. For that matter, the example of Wyoming's Chuck Gray, who is an absolute Trump sycophant, is as well.
We need a combination of supreme moral sensitivity and economic knowledge. Economically ignorant moralism is as objectionable as morally callous economism. Ethics and economics are two equally difficult subjects, and while the former needs discerning and expert reason, the latter cannot do without humane values.
Wilhelm Röpke, A Humane Economy: The Social Framework of the Free Market
September 8, 2026
Retaliatory Canadian tariffs took place today with duties ranging from 15% to 50% across hundreds of U.S. products worth a total CA$27.6 billion, including dairy, agricultural equipment, paper, household appliances and electronics.
This will hurt Canadian consumer through increased cost to them, and American producers due to decreased demand.
Cont:
September 8, 2026
And as this wasn't enough, 5he United States is banning the import of some dairy products motorcycles and most alcoholic beverages from Canada.
This is rank stupidity. Peter Navarro ought to be sent to kindergarten and Wharton declared a clown college.
So, if you can, go out and buy a Can Am motorcycle and some Crown Royal.
Well, probably not. I'm too old to start riding a motorcycle (I'd much prefer a mule) and I can't stand Crown Royal. But if I liked Canadian whiskey, I'd go buy some for spite.
I may just for spite.
September 10, 2026
Cont:
U.S. wholesale inflation hits 5.4% annually in August 2026.
More good news from the Trump administration.
September 11, 2026
Lame duck defeated state senator Bob Ide used the Hilltop disaster to say something monumentally stupid.
Bob, that's stupid.
September 15, 2026
Oil everywhere is up over $100/bbl and set to rise.
Prices at the pump are at record highs.
This appears to be set to get extremely bad.
September 16, 2026
The Fed raised interest rates, contrary to the wish of King Donald.
cont:
This guy is a Wharton graduate?
September 17, 2026
Railroad surcharges on grain have doubled over the past year.
September 18, 2026
If we buy $2 billion worth of bananas from Brazil, we’re actually losing $2 billion. So if we stop eating bananas, we actually save $2 billion.
Donald Trump
Oh for goodness sakes. What an idiotic statement.
But one Trump appears to really believe.
First of all, a trade deficit in and of itself, unless you believe in autarky, si not a bad thing. A rich country, which Trump is helping to end our status as, will probably have a trade deficit. Trade deficits can be bad, but not simply because they exist, but for other reasons.
And, this is a classic example from the Wealth of Nations.
The US produces hardly any bananas. Just some in Florida, which stay in Florida, and some in Hawaii.
The US imports hardly any bananas from Brazil. Brazil only exports about $21 million to $24 million anywhere. Brazil does import $11.23 billion in fuel from the US. And this economic analysis is moronic.
Even assuming that we bought bananas from Brazil, which we do not, if we are to eat bananas, and people like bananas, we have to buy them from a foreign source. We given them money, we get bananas.
That doesn't make us poor, it actually does the opposite.
Which, once again, leads to this:
WHARTON, WHAT THE FUCK IS MATTER WITH YOU? HOW DID THIS GUY GRADUATE WHAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE ONE OF THE BEST ECONOMIC SCHOOLS IN THE WORLD?September 24, 2026
The Secretary of Agriculture reports that if you don't like beef prices, you can switch to chicken or pork.
That's frankly quite true, and it's a thing that producers need to worry about. Pork was the primary meat for most Americans up until the post Civil War era. Once people make a major shift in diet, they tend to stick with it.
September 21, 1946 advertisement from the American Meat Institute featuring a leg of lamb.
On this topic, the news relates that a top Texas BBQ joint will no longer offer beef brisket. Too expensive. That isn't a good sign.
Also regarding meat, the USDA is recalling 167,000 lbs of uninspected beef, pork and goat meat.
On all of this, the meat prices would be easy to blame on Trump, as the Wharton School of Business seems to be economically incompetent. This, however, is largely due to other factors, although I don't know how to explain the inspection glitch.
One thing that will impact the price of meat. . .and everything else, is the price of fuel. Indeed, after a year that featured record cattle prices, for those who had cattle to sell, profits are now being lost to diesel fuel.
A common cry out there in the hinterlands right now is to impose an export ban on diesel fuel. Such a ban was in place from 1975 to 2015. It's really debated what lifting the ban would do. Midwest GOP candidates started crying for it recently, but Wyoming's Congressional representation opposes it. That doesn't tell us much, however, as Wyoming's delegation probably wouldn't oppose a proposal to nuke the state.
Anyhow, Trump indicated support for a temporary ban, and then energy secretary Chris Wright walked it back, which is extremely interesting, particularly as farmers in the Midwest are now having real second thoughts about King Donald now that they realize he's fucking them with his policies, and not other people they didn't car about.
September 29, 2026
The Trump ban on the importation of Canadian alcohol, dairy and motorcycles, comes into effect today.
The ban is moronic.
Trump rolled back fuel efficiency standards on automobiles, as he's an ancient fool about to die and lives in the past in many ways.
And, on fuel, this item:
Wyoming has always had some progressive and farsighted people working behind the scenes while, at the same time, the troglodyte faction of the GOP, particularly strongly represented in the Wyoming Freedom Caucus From The South seek to believe it's 1861.
Electric vehicles are coming, and diesel at $6.00 will help revive interest in them. The comments on this, of course, are "dem new fangle aut o mobiles won't replace the horse", basically. EVs are coming, like it or not, and when the Trump administration is in the outhourse of history where it so richly belongs, they'll significantly revive.
September 30, 2026
And with the following item, we'll close out this installment:
Footnotes
*Strasser was permanently ousted from influence in the Night of the Long Knives.
Schacht is interesting in that he was never a Nazi himself and was involved in prewar anti Nazi plots. He served in the German government nonetheless.
Last edition:
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