The Israel Test

Trump Offers Short-term Pain in Exchange for…Long-term Pain

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Richard Vigilante and George Gilder
Apr 02, 2025
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MAGA folk reassure themselves that the stock market plunge doesn’t matter and the “real” economy is doing just fine, undisturbed by the looming trade war.

Then when some new gloomy data on the “real” economy is released, they double down and explain we need to accept short-term pain for long-term gain. Trump actually used that ominous phrase.

Both proposi…

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A guest post by
George Gilder
Author of twenty books on economics and technology, from Wealth and Poverty (1980) to Life After Google (2018). Co-founder, Discovery Institute and leader of COSM conference.
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