Motley Fool Money Interview with Charlie Wheelan: Naked Economics
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Aug 31, 2025 Charlie Wheelan, faculty director at the Dartmouth Tuck Center and bestselling author, shares insights on crucial economic themes. He discusses the complexities of tariffs and their effects on consumer prices, navigating trade imbalances, and the rising role of technology in manufacturing job losses. Wheelan expresses concerns over the potential of AI to displace jobs, paralleling it with historical labor shifts, and analyzes how this tech wave influences investment strategies and economic predictions.
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Comparative Advantage Explains Trade Gains
- Comparative advantage means each country focuses on what it does best and trades for the rest.
- That trade raises overall prosperity even if it shifts jobs across sectors.
Treat Tariffs As Taxes With Shared Burden
- Remember tariffs are a tax on imports and their economic burden can fall on exporters, importers, or consumers.
- Expect some tariffs to be passed to American consumers and to raise costs in certain industries.
Trade Deficits Aren't Proof Of Being Ripped Off
- A trade deficit doesn't automatically mean you're being ripped off by other countries.
- Rapid growth or borrowing to finance productive investment can legitimately produce persistent deficits.
