White House playing a mug's game with its pompous 'strategic uncertainty'

The past three months have been a sobering lesson in the folly of hubris. The actions of the White House, whose occupant claims he runs the country and the world, have created devastating uncertainty for people and businesses around the world.

In a recent defense of the administration's now-you-see-them, now-you-don't punitive tariffs on the United States' trade partners, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent characterized them as part of White House's deliberate "strategic uncertainty" aimed at gaining leverage in negotiations by not making it clear what its end game is. While such game theory may find favor in the boardroom, the application of engineered uncertainty in the realm of international trade is proving to be a perilous gamble.

The repercussions of this uncertainty are already reverberating throughout the US economy. Businesses and consumers are grappling with heightened costs, prompting frantic inventory purchases. The US Federal Reserve's latest Beige Book report paints a bleak picture of the US' economic landscape.