With President Donald Trump continuing to escalate his trade wars with a long list of countries, the stock market is in freefall. And many Americans, especially those close to retirement age, are extremely worried as they see the value of their 401k accounts plummeting in value.
Some wealthy individuals, including Trump and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, are telling fellow Americans to stay calm and saying that some short-term pain will be worth it in the long run.
But economist Jared Bernstein expressed his frustration during a Wednesday, April 9 appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” — accusing pro-Trump “billionaires” of being painfully tone-deaf.
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Bernstein complained, “Let me just say: I think I speak for a lot of people when I say, I am just sick to death of billionaires telling regular people not to worry about what these incompetent people are doing, alright. I just think that if you’re a billionaire and you’re sitting there while the market is in correction territory — and 60 percent of middle-class people about to retire are watching their 401ks — don’t tell them to worry about it. Just don’t.”
Trump voters, Bernstein argued, are “waking up.”
“What a terrible way to go about this,” Bernstein told “Morning Joe” host Mika Brzezinski. “This is some of the worst diplomacy I’ve ever seen, and absolutely, the worst economics I’ve seen in international trade in a long career.”
READ MORE: ‘Shrivel and die’: How a DOGE cut means paying taxes may become ‘voluntary’ for billionaires
Watch the video below or at this link.
