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PaperclipPerfector  4mo ago (text post)   2158 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 27, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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What preparation if any have you been doing for the possibility of tariffs?

I've bought approximately five pairs of sneakers in the past two weeks, to try to get ahead of potential supply disruptions on the one brand of sneakers that actually fit my weird wide flat feet.

None. I think the impact of tariffs will turn out to be wildly overrated. I have no actual empirical basis for that belief or an articulable mechanism, I just kind of don't believe that Nike is actually going to have more than a marginal price change. Maybe I'll be wrong, but my current stance is that "tariffs don't work" will be even more true than many people believe.

I tend to agree on predictions of long-term apocalypse.

Where I'm concerned is about specialized, low volume, low price items that aren't high prestige. At work we're stockpiling parts for obscure old machines. I'm not worried about Nike raising prices on popular shoe lines, so much as about companies folding altogether or consolidating SKUs.

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