r/technology • u/DontFearTheCreaper • 2d ago

Social Media Tech CEOs who grinned behind Trump at inauguration lose billions in wake of tariffs

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-tariff-bezos-musk-zuckerberg-b2727147.html
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u/a-base 2d ago

Much like the 2008 housing crisis in the US, these things tend to work out very well for billionaires - at a cost to the poor, lower- and middle- class.

  • Their losses are just theoretical, it's not like they have to cash out their stocks or sell assets and take any real loss.
  • Even with these 'losses' they are still billionaires and can access cash in numerous ways. They can quite comfortably ride out any period of instability.
  • More likely than riding it out, they'll use it to their advantage. With markets crashing they are perfectly positioned to swoop in, scoop up anything they like, and make out like bandits.

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u/clueless_as_fuck 2d ago

It's pretty obvious at this point that this is the plan.

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u/DouglasHundred 2d ago

I mean, it's an economic system they designed to work for their exclusive benefit, so it's hardly a surprise.

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u/ovirt001 2d ago edited 2d ago

There was a period of a few decades where taxes and regulations reined in wealth concentration. Since the 80s that has been carefully rolled back.

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u/Infinite_Carpenter 2d ago

Carefully?

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u/VaughnSC 2d ago

‘Boiling the frog,’ at the time. Lately, the gloves are off.

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u/Infinite_Carpenter 2d ago

That’s an optimistic view of the past 40 years

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u/Significant_Turn5230 2d ago

They succeeded, didn't they?

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u/Infinite_Carpenter 2d ago

Workers’ rights have been completed eroded and the wealth transfer to the top 1% has been massive. Unions’ power in the USA hasn’t been this diminished in decades. Both Democrats and republicans have been complicit, obviously conservatives would rather workers didn’t have any rights.