Tariffs Memes

Economics professors be like: "Tariffs? Bad. But have you seen what happens when elasticity goes negative?!" *shocked Spongebob eyes* That moment when your trade model breaks the fabric of economic reality. In economics, elasticity (ε) is supposed to be negative - it measures how demand drops when prices rise. If ε>0, you've basically created a universe where people buy MORE stuff when it gets MORE expensive. Next thing you know, students are paying extra for textbooks voluntarily and the Federal Reserve is hiring meme creators for policy advice.

Behold the magnificent paradox! Someone suggesting we should "avoid woke things like math" while simultaneously discussing tariffs - which require, you guessed it, MATH to calculate! *adjusts imaginary spectacles wildly* It's like saying "avoid breathing oxygen" while explaining your deep-sea diving plans. The beautiful irony is that tariffs are literally percentage-based taxes on imports, requiring the very mathematical skills being dismissed as "woke." Next up: avoiding gravity while planning a rocket launch! *cackles maniacally*

Economics meets mathematical pettiness in this glorious equation! Someone clearly decided that regular tariff formulas weren't passive-aggressive enough, so they created one with a literal "China" variable that multiplies everything by 1.25 instead of 0.10. Talk about wearing your trade policy on your sleeve! This is what happens when economists get tired of subtle diplomatic language and decide to express their geopolitical biases through differential equations. The mathematical equivalent of saying "and I'll charge YOU extra" with a pointed finger. Brilliant way to start an international incident, one Greek symbol at a time!

Nothing says "trade war" like weaponizing economics with suspiciously precise formulas. That equation for calculating reciprocal tariffs looks like someone tried to mathematically justify why your avocados now cost $7. The elasticity is "near 2 in the long run" - much like my patience for economic policy papers that use Greek letters to sound smarter. They really set the price elasticity at 4 when real evidence suggests 2, which is basically the academic equivalent of doubling your recipe's spice measurements because you "feel like it might need more."