Introduction
Welcome to The Cameron Journal Newsletter! This week, it’s all about Trump Tariffs and the reverberations around the world from what can only be described as an economic reset.
The World is Hard, This is Not
Each week I send out the latest headlines, the latest videos from The Cameron Journal and commentary about the week’s events. If you’re new here, my name is Cameron Lee Cowan M.A. MFA, and I’m the Creative Director here at The Cameron Journal. You can learn more about me on the about page. I do research and commentary on politics, culture, and the world around us. Remember, The World is Hard, This is Not.
Updates
Happy weekend, everyone! As my Nana always says, “it was a short week.” I definitely enjoyed the extra day off. However, taking off on a weekday always seems to throw the rest of the schedule up in the air. This week was where I burnt through several to-do lists and then promptly filled them back up with more stuff. And so it goes. Lately, I’ve been sleeping so much, but the news has been busy, and we’ll be diving into this week’s headlines shortly.
I am continuing to work on all the big changes I have for The Cameron Journal as we move away from articles for Google and more towards newsletter content for people just like those reading this right now. It is exciting, and I’m still working out how to do this. I’ve always been a writer, and I’ve spent the bulk of my life writing articles for publications, and now we’re moving to a new frontier. It’s really breaking my brain right now, but a new vision is starting to break through.
I have the final changes back from my next book, America’s Lost Generation and I’m excited to get it into production. Pre-orders will re-open soon and I’m excited to get this into everyone’s hands.
Let’s get to the headlines.
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The Latest
Don’t forget to join me on Monday for The Cameron Journal Newshour to catch on everything happening in the world!
Taco Trump
This week, one question from a reporter sent Trump into an almost seething rage right on camera. The reporter asked him how he felt about Wall Street calling him “Taco” which is short for “Trump Always Chickens Out” (on trade deals and tariffs). Several users on X remarked that this might cause a recession out of spite. The traders aren’t wrong. Trump always talks a good deal about trade deals but when things get too out of control in the bond markets (or elsewhere) tariffs tumble back down to earth.
As you’ve probably already heard by now, Moody’s downgraded our country’s credit rating one notch meaning that the US no longer has the best credit rating from all three major credit rating agencies. The first downgrade happened in 2011 from Standard and Poors but now Moody’s has followed Fitch (downgraded in 2023) and S and P to downgrade the US to merely AA+ from AAA. They made this decision based on the new budget that will expand the debt through deficit spending by $3.3 trillion over the next decade.
Between trade wars, debt problems, increased spending and ill-advised tax cuts, Trump isn’t doing much to help the economy these days. I saw this particularly caustic story at The New Republic about the economic changes that we’re already feeling only 5 months into Trump’s 2nd term. The tariffs have caused uncertainty and the stock market has been moving through different levels at a wild pace. Causing uncertainty is not healthy for a growing and thriving economy, no matter how much “new investment” flows in.
But not everything is all doom and gloom on the economic front. Inflation is steady which may lead to a rate cut. Prices of certain goods are steady (but not coming down) and thanks to quick action by the Trump administration, it looks like we’re going to avoid shortages due to trade stopping between China and the US. Much of the gloomier economic news on employment is not being caused by Trump policies but movements in AI and higher interest rates. The big mover in the economy this year will be reductions in government spending as that money leaves the economy and those workers face a tough job market, that will be the main economic story moving forward and one we can tie directly to Trump and the cuts from DOGE and other hacking away at the government that they have done. Which reminds me, we need to bid farewell to Elon Musk as he departs his role at the White House and returns to his businesses which have seen better days.
Democrats, Abundance, and Winning Back the Country
Amid falling approval numbers, Democrats are continuing to navel-gaze about getting back into American voters’ good graces. Nothing will work, at least for some time, as I said before, the American Liberal project is entirely on retreat. 2024 was a surrender, and the troops are still filing back into their entrenched positions, ragged, burnt, and bruised. Obviously, Ezra Klein’s new Abundance book has become the latest touchstone on this topic, and while it does call for building things and accelerating towards a better future rather than a future of degrowth and using less energy (more on that in a future email). One of the emerging trends within this party discussion right now is basically becoming a more Libertarian party that stands in opposition to the extremes in the GOP, but that really leaves the progressive vanguard of the party behind. Leaving progressives and their mostly unpopular ideas behind would relieve voters’ fear that by electing moderate “sane” democrats, they are really signing up for a pernicious progressive agenda. But that doesn’t solve the real issue.
The real issue is that Democrats don’t define themselves in the marketplace of ideas (progressives do this, it’s just unpopular) and get defined by the GOP. I’ve seen this my entire life. Democrats are never standing “for” anything; rather, they are reacting to a new policy or a social problem. The right-wing news outlets and podcasts pick up 3-5 quotes, play them on repeat, and then say, “This is the America democrats want!” These media outlets put in a lot of bluster and spittle, and that becomes the idea of democrats in voters’ heads. Look no further than the great debate on trans people for proof. It’s not democrats standing on 10 toes on that issue, it’s progressives and a handful of accounts online.
But thanks to GOP messaging, the average person thinks the average democrat is trying to transition all their children. Democrats need to do more than just stand for something; they need to articulate their values to the country in a way that counters the GOP message. If the party begins to define itself, then it will break the back of the right-wing messaging machine.
Interesting Video of the Week
I’m not a huge fan of this woman’s perspectives after watching several videos but I do agree with here, the cultural war has always been a distraction to a greater economic story of wealth flowing to the top and out of the pockets of the many. Americans have been offshored, downsized, right-sized, and de-unionized into financial oblivion.
Articles of Interest:
The latest installment in my What the Hell is Going On? collection:
Something fun for your summer travel:
The latest installment in our Plato series from Executive Contributor Daniel Sanderson:
A touching documentary about a young man from Gaza and how years of war and strife have changed his life:
Keep up with The Cameron Journal Podcast
The Interview:
The Cameron Journal Newshour:
There was no newshour this week due to the Memorial Day Holiday. We’ll resume normal programming on Monday, June 2nd.
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