Paul Krugman — And The Gospel Worth Spreading August 5, 2025August 4, 2025 Nobel laureate Paul Krugman July 30: Fossil Fool. The EU is an economic superpower and could have retaliated effectively against Trump’s illegal tariffs — illegal under both U.S. and international law. Instead, Europe did nothing and even made some apparent concessions. But notice my wording: apparent concessions. The optics of the Trump-EU deal were humiliating, and optics matter. If you examine the substance, however, it starts to look as if Europe played Trump for a fool. Specifically, a fossil fool. The EU made two sort-of pledges to Trump. First, that it would invest $600 billion in the United States. Second, that it would buy $750 billion worth of U.S. energy, mainly oil and gas, over the next three years. The first promise was empty, while the second was nonsense. . . . Paul Krugman August 3: The Economics of Smoot-Hawley 2.0. . . . Unless the courts rule Trump’s tariffs illegal — which they clearly are, but I fully expect the Supreme Court to uphold them anyway — Smoot-Hawley 2.0 is the new normal. . . . Crucially, what Trump is really waging is mostly a class war against middle- and lower-income Americans rather than a trade war against other countries. The hit from his tariffs to the typical family is much bigger than the hit to GDP. Also, it’s important to understand that all of Trump’s tariffs violate solemn agreements — agreements ratified by Congress — that the United States has made in the past. So the Trump tariffs have inflicted massive and possibly irreparable damage on U.S. credibility. . . . But he’s having fun! Rule by whim! Rule by decree! Unchecked power! The center of the entire world’s attention!!!! Do you seriously think he plans to leave at the end of this term? Putin faces no term limits. Xi doesn’t. Kim Jong-Un doesn’t. El Salvador’s dictator and prison-meister doesn’t. Why should he? If you missed David Remnick’s thumbnail profile I linked to yesterday, here it is again. Some Christians are okay with all this. This one is not (2 minutes). Spread the gospel, friends, whether you’re religious or not.