Tariffs, Inflation & AI - Why the World Feels More Chaotic Than Ever

I am not an Economist. All the knowledge I have about geopolitical trade is from the news, Thanks to Trump’s insistence on stirring the trading pot with vigor. What have I learnt so far?

Tariffs are good. They will save the economy and will bring down inflation and will launch the world into spending frenzy and deepen the nationalist sentiment.

A popular source of my information is a platform called X or formerly known as Twitter. The owner of the platform is apparently a genius and the most powerful figure of the free world leans on him for advice. Surely I should have no qualms in believing anything that comes from these sources, right?

In a sane world run by logical and honest people, we wouldn’t even have such questions in first place. As I am realizing the harsh truth that the present world is anything but sane and logical. What is a common man like me who relies on logic and sanity supposed to do in these times? The answer might not be that straightforward, if there is one.

The reason for this long winded rambling about the current state of chaotic information is my sheer confusion of state of affairs and utter bewilderment at the ease with which the incompetence, corruption and misinformation in the media is normalized in the world. My day starts with a scrambled mess of overpriced eggs with a loaf of bread and generic blend of coffee bought at wholesale with a tune of the latest madness around the impact of tariffs imposed by two countries with a promise of some X Billions to be added to the economy. My eggs are dry, coffee cold and the loaf of bread a hardened mess by the time I figure out the ways these geopolitical trade policies will effect me.

While global trade policies impact my cost of living, another looming concern is AI’s growing role in the workforce. If it is not the constant robotic feed of the social media frying my brains, there is some new Large Language Model claiming to do my job better than me. It took me 15 years to be confident about my proficiency in the job, but then an LLM can do that in 15 minutes now, on a slow day, with its one hand tied behind its back.

The sheer arrogance of all these events is baffling to me. The people who seem to have lost the grasp of reality are taking decisions for me and the rest of the world on our way of living and earning. All the while patting our backs in a condescending way so as as to suggest that we are in control and voted for it in all our sanity.

I don’t have any answers to these ramblings, I think you must have guessed it by now but my reason for this post is to encourage us all keep raising questions while the madness unfolds in front of us. I am vetting my information sources while constantly questioning the motives of the decisions being taken by the world leaders. Probably there is a light at the end of this metaphorical tunnel, albeit in a deer in a headlight kind of situation.