Is Trump using these tariffs to boost his own wealth at your expense? Discover Trumps true agenda here

Are you sick and tired of hearing or reading about the “T” word yet?

You know the one – tariffs!

They are an inescapable fact right now it seems. Can you remember the good old days when they weren’t such a well-reported topic, say three months ago?

It does feel like years have passed in a handful of weeks.

So, let’s tackle this subject head on. Why is Trump doing this? Does he simply want to cause trouble around the world? Is Trump’s trade wars a prelude to a shooting war?

These are some of the serious questions being pondered by the world’s finest geopolitical and financial minds. I cannot claim to be one of them.

However, I have a different view than them when it comes to this debate. And that belief is founded in the works of the single greatest economist who has ever walked the earth.

And it’s this view that is the subject of today’s newsletter.

Today, I will lay out Donald Trump’s secret agenda. I will show you the true cost of a tariff war, uncover the handful of true winners here, and lay out a potential alternate course of action the world could pursue instead.

Let’s cut directly through the nose and examine the heart of this important matter.

One that directly affects everyone, including you.

We should start with the obvious question: why has the US president decided to start a trade war with everyone? The reason is because it’s (according to him) beautiful. Yep, you read that right. Trump has said that the word ‘tariff’ is the most beautiful word in the dictionary.

As of time of writing, I’m still awaiting confirmation that Trump has ever looked at a dictionary.

And as a resident of Australia, we have just now felt the wrath too. A broad tariff on imported steel and aluminum regardless of point of origin into the US has seen Australian politicians reeling. Our prime minister has requested an exemption – it was rejected.

The key point is this. Trump means in the literal sense of the word what he says. Here is what he’s been saying.

Donald Trump has repeatedly dismissed the idea that tariffs would be inflationary. “There will be a little disturbance,” he said in an address to the US Congress. “But we’re OK with that. It won’t be much.” As well as targeting certain countries and the commodities of steel and aluminium, Mr Trump wants a “reciprocal” arrangement on all trade with the US.”

Under the reciprocal-tariffs plan, if foreign countries charge any kind of tax on US exports, the US could impose a similar tax on imports from that country.

“This country has been ripped off from every nation in the world, every company outside in the world, we’ve been ripped off at levels never seen before,” Trump said in a recent Fox News interview.

“And all we’re going to do is get it back. We’re going to get a lot of it back.”

In effect, Trump and his advisors claim the whole rationale behind these tariffs is fairness. Or, in Trump-speak, ensure every single deal must absolutely favor the US at the expense of everyone else. “That” kind of fairness – ok?

He claims he is doing it for his country.

I beg to differ.

There’s a hidden agenda that the president is hiding from everyone. Let’s go back to the writings of the most important economist who ever lived. One who can reveal the real reason behind what’s going on.

That economist is Henry George. He was a 19^th century land reformer and economist who in his seminal work “Progress and Poverty” laid the foundations for a single tax policy where the state levied one tax upon bare land sufficient to capture the totality of the natural economic rent of said land. I will speak to the economic rent in a moment.

His goal was to remove any and all speculation of land, whilst removing taxes from all productive activity within the economy. So, no taxes on income, business profit, sales or anything like that.

His goal was nothing short of eliminating the boom-and-bust cycle and addressing economic inequality entirely. If it wasn’t for George, we wouldn’t know anything about the 18-year Real Estate Cycle.

He was also a proponent of free trade, and it is his writings about that subject that we now turn to. Henry George, in his arguments for free trade over protectionism, emphasized that tariffs and trade restrictions primarily benefit landowners and monopolists while harming workers and the general public.

Tariffs lift the prices of goods by removing competition. With less competition, domestic (in this case think US) production can now increase their own prices, which they then pass on to the US consumer. However, what actually occurs is these excess profits end up flowing into land values instead.

So, in other words, landowners and monopolists are the true winners of the Trump led global tariff campaign.

This concept is not understood by the mass media, so please bear with me as I dive deeper into this. It’s the absolute key to interpreting and understanding Trump’s true agenda.

Henry George showed that tariffs and protectionism create economic distortions that only benefit rent-seeking landowners and monopolists, ensuring that rather than workers and consumers, it is the privileged few who truly benefit from economic growth.

While Trump and his cronies argue that tariffs create jobs, George contended that they do not increase wages. Instead, they raise the cost of living because imported goods become more expensive, and domestic goods remain artificially high-priced. Workers ultimately pay more for necessities without seeing a proportional rise in income.

I mentioned the economic rent. What I refer to is the Law of Economic Rent (Ricardian Rent Theory). First proposed by English economist David Ricardo, George built upon this law which states that rent is determined by the productivity of land relative to the least productive land in use.

In other words, as economic activity increases (for instance, due to tariffs or other interventions), land in desirable locations becomes more valuable, and landlords can charge higher rents. George argued that tariffs artificially inflate profits, but these profits ultimately flow into higher land rents rather than benefiting workers or capitalists.

Now, consider once again who the US president has decided to surround himself with. Tech and finance billionaires. By pursuing this policy, it’s you and I who end up paying far more for basic goods and services that we need to survive. And it concentrates the wealth of nations into the hands of monopolists and the biggest landowners.

Now can you see the utter nonsense of Trump’s pronouncements and thanks to the words of George see straight through the noise to his true agenda. Only a real estate mogul could do it.

If you think because you reside outside the US, and the ultimate cost doesn’t concern you, think again. We are seeing a cycle of reciprocal rounds of retaliatory tariffs on imported US goods by many nations.

Unfortunately, it isn’t that simple. Henry George saw retaliatory tariffs as self-defeating. They don’t punish the foreign country effectively, but they do hurt domestic consumers, benefit landlords, and reduce overall economic efficiency. His argument aligns with the idea that free trade is a unilateral good—a country should keep its markets open regardless of what others do.

And if you place land at the centre of your research when it comes to finance, economics, and investments, it just makes too much sense not to retaliate.

Because the outcome here, should every nation engage with tit-for-tat tariffs themselves, is this.

Your cost of living will increase. Your take home wages will decrease. The cost of buying a home will increase.

Plus, we can look at history to determine what the ultimate outcome of reciprocal tariff increases is. An all-out trade war where no-one wins, and everyone’s economy suffers.

Geroge was very clear and succinct too when providing alternative strategies. He suggested instead of tariffs, keep your markets free and open.

This will keep prices low and market efficiencies in place. Make domestic industries more efficient by placing the tax burden on land, not productive parts of the economy. Finally, use diplomatic or economic pressure on any trade partners engaging in a trade war instead of relying upon costly tariffs yourself.

The thing is you and I know full well that Trump is surrounded by sycophants who create an echo chamber around the president. He won’t listen to any discerning or contrary opinion, and after today, you understand that he actually shouldn’t anyway.

Because this whole charade isn’t about tariffs at all. It is instead about personal enrichment for himself, his family, and his billionaire friends.

But what about you?

I trust you have determined just how poorer we as a society are by ignoring the teachings of economists like Henry George. But like I wrote to you about last week, Trump couldn’t have picked a worse time to be doing this. We are fast approaching the final peak then bust of the US land markets.

This represents yet another nail into the coffin of the US economy that’s coming. It’s incredible to witness Trump’s electoral base still walking around with their MAGA caps on their heads, proclaiming him as the savior of the US. Like some sort of golden age is about to break out for them and their country.

Their savior is destroying their hopes and dreams instead, and ensuring Trump himself enriches himself. Any worthwhile real estate mogul would do no different.

So, are you ready? Have you started preparations for what’s coming? Are you clear on what’s needed and most important of all, do you have any idea of “when” this is going to happen?

The end is approaching.

Trump will lead the world directly into ruin. You, however, do not have to share his fate. Because you can arm yourself with a tool even the US president lacks.

The knowledge of the history of the 18.6-year Real Estate Cycle.

And that starts here, with membership of the Boom Bust Bulletin (BBB). Let the BBB guide you on the inherent timing of the economy only knowledge of the land market can give you.

Each month this history and knowledge will be yours via monthly written editions and video postcards that will help explain the real estate cycle like never before.

The set-up we are witnessing is becoming clearer by the day. And it is far more damaging than it appeared even six months ago.

Trump’s presidency began with America in a period of weakness not strength. The president is now prepared to sacrifice this economy on the altar of personal enrichment at the expense of the rest of us.

It’s even possible, should these policies continue, the end may in fact accelerate towards you.

Time now is critical. Every extra day you have to prepare will bear fruit when boom turns to bust.

So, sign up now.