As Trump continues to wow even his critics with his choices to serve in top jobs during his second term, two crucial appointees will drive his economic agenda.
Scott Bessent, Trump’s nominee for Treasury secretary with Ivy League credentials (Yale), is a prominent billionaire hedge fund manager. Howard Lutnick, the chief executive of Cantor Fitzgerald and Trump’s economic policy transition chief, is Trump’s pick for commerce secretary this week. These two finance industry titans will drive Trump’s priorities on taxes and tariffs. With Trump’s selections of Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head the quasi-agency Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), wasteful spending, fraud, inefficiency, deficits, and the federal debt are front and center, unlike at any time in at least 40 years.
Trump should also unleash the creativity of these picks to reexamine America’s sanctions regime, which Bessent, the Treasury secretary, will manage. Trump should direct his team to authorize and implement sanctions only to further America’s MAGA goals—around tariffs, border security, drug enforcement, and crime. It is time for America to return to the relatively peaceful, prosperous, inward-looking nation under Bill Clinton’s two terms and abandon the globalist and elitist model that America embraced under every president since George W. Bush and 9/11.
America’s sanctions regime is killing the dollar’s viability as countries worldwide see firsthand the ability of the United States government to inflict pain on every country with which it disagrees.
Administrations of both parties are guilty of weaponizing the dollar to further America’s foreign policy goals. The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Controls (OFAC) wields enormous power to block fund transfers to countries, groups, or individuals subject to American sanctions. In a 2021 paper, the Treasury reported that 9,421 sanctions designations were active, a 933% increase since 9/11, as American administrations have used dollarization as a primary diplomatic weapon.
Since February 2022, the Biden-Harris Treasury has implemented over 2,500 sanctions on Russia, nearly a quarter of all sanctions against all countries in the last 21 years. These sanctions encompass numerous Russian banks, wealth management-related entities, individuals who play key roles in Russia’s financial services sector, and companies involved in Russia’s military-industrial complex.
For an administration that made democracy its key rallying cry to denigrate Trump at every turn right through Election Day, the Biden-Harris sanctions regime is totally undemocratic. An international entity sanctioned by America is entirely at the mercy of America’s bureaucrats since no judicial review is allowed.
What irritates the world is the hubris of administration officials in exploiting the dollar’s status as the global reserve currency. In a press release 18 months ago, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, in promoting Russia sanctions, said:
As the Ukrainian people continue to valiantly defend their homeland and their freedom, the United States is proud to support Ukraine through economic, security, and humanitarian assistance. Over the past year, we have taken actions with a historic coalition of international partners to degrade Russia’s military-industrial complex and reduce the revenues that it uses to fund its war. Our sanctions have had both short-term and long-term impact, seen acutely in Russia’s struggle to replenish its weapons and in its isolated economy. Our actions today with our G7 partners show that we will stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.
The problem with Yellen’s claims is that they are all untrue today.
Russia is not as isolated as Yellen wants it to be. President Putin has hosted international conferences and freely traveled to friendly nations on state visits, a far cry from Yellen’s claims that American sanctions have been effective in isolating him.
TIPP estimates that Putin has visited at least 23 countries since the Ukraine war started, with a significant state visit to India planned shortly. To be sure, many of his visits have been to former Soviet client states, such as Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarus, each of which treated him with a red welcome. Putin has also engaged in pompous state visits with American allies, such as the United Arab Emirates, Vietnam, and Saudi Arabia. President Xi of China visited him in Moscow and received him in Beijing on a grand scale.
During the recent BRICS Summit in Russia, an essential topic of conversation was the alternative BRICS currency, which, managed by five nations – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – can never be used as a strategic weapon against other countries. The currency discussion was a direct dig at Yellen’s claims.
Russia has worked with pariah nations, including Iran and North Korea, to steadily replenish its weaponry. In the latest twist, North Korea has not only been shipping artillery and missiles to Russia but also sent its troops to train with the Russian military to defend the Kursk region, which Ukraine currently holds. The BBC reported this week that Russia has directly transferred one million barrels of oil to North Korea as a gift, in violation of existing sanctions.
Western sanctions have not reduced Russian oil revenues, which Russia uses to fund its war. An October 14 New York Times report showed how Russia has largely evaded sanctions aimed at limiting its revenue from oil sales as Russian oil freely flowed through the Western “Price Cap.”
Ukraine is losing the war. While Russia is taking in massive casualties, Ukraine is taking many more. Ukraine is running out of soldiers to fight and is steadily ceding territory in the Donbas. With the onset of winter, Ukraine’s decimated infrastructure and power grid will make defending territory even more challenging.
The point is that the overuse of sanctions has made them ineffective. With Trump’s new mandate, he should reexamine every sanction in the book and retire them unless they are needed to directly help his MAGA goals. The goodwill this would result in would strengthen America’s global standing and improve international relationships.
TIPP Picks
Selected articles from tippinsights.com
Can’t Make This Cat Walk Backwards: John Kennedy Grills Biden Nominee Over ‘Radical Positions’ On BLM, Immigration – Harold Hutchison, DCNF
How Trump Reverses The Destruction Biden’s Pro-Illegal Immigration Ideologues Wrought: The BorderLine – Simon Hankinson, The Daily Signal
The “Green’ Movement Increases Demand For Oil – Ronald Stein, CFACT
Biden Met Three Times With Leader Of Genocidal Regime – Terence P. Jeffrey, DCNF
Democrats Sold 2024 As ‘Last Election,’ But Now Promise ‘Peaceful Transfer’ Of Power? – Christina Lewis, The Daily Caller
COP 29: The Big UN Money Grab – Craig Rucker, CFACT
TIPP Takes
Geopolitics, Geoeconomics, And More
1. ICC Warrants Are Binding, EU Cannot Pick And Choose, EU’s Borrell Says – Reuters
The ICC issued the warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister Yoav Gallant, and Hamas leader Ibrahim al-Masri for alleged crimes against humanity.
Several EU states have said they will meet their commitments under the statute if needed. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has invited Netanyahu to visit his country, assuring him he would face no risks if he did so.
“The states that signed the Rome convention are obliged to implement the decision of the court. It’s not optional,” EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said.
2. Ukraine Has Lost Over 40 Percent Of Land Seized In Russia’s Kursk Region To Counterattacks – Reuters
“At most, we controlled about 1,376 square kilometers (531 square miles); now, of course, this territory is smaller. The enemy is increasing its counterattacks,” a senior Ukrainian military source said.
“Now we control approximately 800 square kilometers (309 square miles). We will hold this territory for as long as is militarily appropriate.” The Kursk offensive was the first ground invasion of Russia by a foreign power since World War Two and caught Moscow unprepared.
3. Putin Orders Serial Production Of Oreshnik Hypersonic Missile, Warns It Can Be Used Again – UPI
Speaking during a televised meeting with members of his Security Council, defense industry officials, and missile developers, the Russian leader said the Oreshnik cannot be stopped or intercepted and will be deployed as part of the country’s Strategic Missile Forces.
The comments came a day after the missile was “successfully” tested in a strike against a Ukrainian aerospace plant in the first use of a nuclear-capable intercontinental ballistic missile by Russia during its 33-month-old invasion of its neighbor.
4. Shanghai Factory Workers Block Major Highway Over Layoff Payouts – RFA
Hundreds of workers from the state-owned Shanghai Guoli Automotive Leather Decoration Coat – an automotive trim company in Shanghai – blocked a major highway in the city amid a protest over plans for mass layoffs.
The workers say they have been offered payouts that fall short of their contracted terms, as employers seek to cut costs. The dispute was the latest in a string of increasingly visible labor disputes amid a flagging, post-lockdown economy in China. A report from Washington DC-based Freedom House said that China saw “a 27 percent year-on-year increase in dissent events” between July 1 and Sept. 30.
5. Japan Passes Economic Package To Address Inflation – UPI
In hopes of tackling continuing inflation issues, the Japanese government approved a wide-ranging economic package worth $250 billion to address racing energy costs and benefit low-income families.
The Liberal Democrats, led by Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, aimed to use the package to increase disposable income, conceding to calls from one of the opposition parties to pass the supplemental budget. Japan’s economy has remained one of the worst among the world’s advanced economies.
6. Landmark $300bn For Poorer Nations In COP29 Climate Deal – BBC
Richer countries have pledged to give a record $300bn to the developing world to help them prepare for and prevent climate change.
The talks at the UN climate summit COP29 in Azerbaijan ran 33 hours late, and came within inches of collapse. The head of the UN climate body, Simon Stiell, said it had “been a difficult journey, but we’ve delivered a deal.” But the talks failed to build on an agreement passed last year calling for nations to “transition away from fossil fuels”.
7. Meet the 2 Best-Performing Vanguard Index Funds of 2024 – The Motley Fool
As of Nov. 20, the Vanguard Financials ETF (VFH ) has returned 34%, and the Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF (VOOG ) has returned 33% year to date.
The Vanguard Financials ETF tracks the performance of 404 U.S. companies in the financial sector, which has been the second-best-performing market sector in the S&P 500 this year. The Vanguard S&P 500 Growth ETF tracks the performance of 234 U.S. companies in the S&P 500 index classified as growth stocks based on their revenue growth, earnings growth, and price appreciation.
10. How Tech Bros Bought ‘America’s Most Pro-Crypto Congress Ever’ – CNBC
Bernie Moreno’s rise from an unsung Ohio businessman to a prominent political leader was no accident. His campaign was backed by $40 million from the cryptocurrency industry as part of a highly targeted effort to elect friendly candidates and, perhaps more importantly, remove their critics.
According to Federal Election Commission data, crypto-related PACs and other groups tied to the industry reeled in over $245 million in total. Crypto accounted for nearly half of all corporate dollars that flowed into the election, according to nonprofit watchdog Public Citizen.
11. Rafael Nadal To Retire After Davis Cup – TIPP Insights
Tennis legend Rafael Nadal, the “King of Clay,” is to retire from the professional tour at the age of 38. His final tournament will be the Davis Cup Finals in November, marking the end of a superlative career that heralded a golden era in men’s tennis.
12. Gukesh White Vs. ‘At Peace’ Ding Liren For Game 1 Of World Championship – Chess.Com
GM Gukesh Dommaraju will have the white pieces against GM Ding Liren for Monday’s game one of the 2024 FIDE World Championship after the opening ceremony concluded in the Capitol Theatre in Singapore.
At an earlier press conference, Ding, again accompanied by GM Richard Rapport, said, “I feel peace and with a lot of energy.” Gukesh paid glowing tributes to “huge icon” GM Viswanathan Anand and his coach GM Grzegorz Gajewski, adding, “I’m confident I have all the chances in the world.”
13. WHO Maintains Mpox At Highest Alert Level – AFP
“The decision was based on the rising number and continuing geographic spread of cases, operational challenges in the field, and the need to mount and sustain a cohesive response across countries and partners,” the United Nations health agency said.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is the country hardest hit by the outbreak, followed by Burundi and Nigeria.
14. Flavored Vapes Drive Big Surge In U.S. E-Cigarette Sales – HealthDay News
E-cigarettes flew off store shelves between 2019 and 2023, and 80% were in youth-friendly flavors like fruit, candy, mint, and menthol.
In all, e-cigarette sales rose 47% over the period, according to a new report from the CDC Foundation and Truth Initiative that called on more states to restrict sales of flavored vapes. Sales of disposable e-cigarettes, the type most often used by young people, rose more than 500% between 2019 and 2023.
Republished with permission from TIPP Insights
