This week's $2 trillion market wipeout isn’t just a response to tariffs—it’s the beginning of a deeper reckoning. Investors are no longer just pricing in interest rates, inflation, or earnings—they’re now pricing in governance uncertainty. What rattled the markets wasn’t merely the content of Trump’s auto tariff announcement, but the process: a total reversal of prior White House messaging, announced unilaterally, with little warning or institutional oversight.
‍

In just 60 days, the Trump administration has issued over 90 executive orders, dismantled independent agencies, and handed sweeping powers to allies like Elon Musk—now heading the loosely defined Department of Government Efficiency. With Musk reportedly accessing agency budgets and pushing layoffs across departments, the guardrails of the administrative state are being re-engineered in real time. Congress, meanwhile, has offered virtually no assistance.

‍

On top of Trump's efforts to reduce tariffs on American goods by placing reciprocal tariffs (or greater) on other countries, underlying economic data is showing continued signs of decay. Automobile repossessions recently hit highs last seen during the 2008 recession.

‍

‍