‘Most Lunatical Thing I’ve Ever Read’: Economist Blown Away by Trump’s Trade Strategy

In an interview with TIME magazine this week, President Donald Trump likened himself to a “department store” and said he will “set the price” of goods.

Trump said he is currently negotiating a slew of trade deals after he imposed tariffs on goods from almost every country. The measures have tanked consumer sentiment and spooked markets, as tariffs essentially act as a tax on imported products.

Speaking with TIME, Trump claimed he has made “200 deals,” but when asked to provide details, he declined.

“Because the deal is a deal that I choose,” he said. “View it differently: We are a department store, and we set the price. I meet with the companies, and then I set a fair price, what I consider to be a fair price, and they can pay it, or they don’t have to pay it. They don’t have to do business with the United States, but I set a tariff on countries.”

Appearing on Friday’ All In on MSNBC, economist Justin Wolfers told host Chris Hayes that Trump’s talk of setting prices sounded communist.

“That interview with TIME is the most lunatical thing I’ve ever read,” Wolfers said. “And I just want to share with you something because it will give you a sense of exactly what’s happened to the Republican Party.”

Wolfers read Trump’s remarks in disbelief.

“Milton Friedman is rolling in his grave,” he said, referring to the late Chicago School economist. “This is central planning – not even by a central planning committee! A central planning committee would have expertise! This is a bloke in a
room who thinks the country’s a store! Chris, you and I are on MSNBC right now complaining there’s no market forces!”

Hayes replied that he’d read the quote and said, “That’s quite a view to view the entirety of the American macro market economy, as a department store where he sets the prices.”

In Trump’s interview with TIME, he claimed he was in talks with China regarding a trade deal, but Beijing has denied this.

Watch above via MSNBC.