JD Vance Script Flipped by Economist, “Tariff Boosters Don’t Fully Understand Economics”

Vice President JD Vance replied to a social media post published by Geiger Capital Gains which reported Wednesday that “PPI in June came in lower than all 50 forecasters in Bloomberg’s survey predicted.”

[According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics: The Producer Price Index (PPI) program measures the average change over time in the selling prices received by domestic producers for their output. The prices included in the PPI are from the first commercial transaction for many products and some services. Describing the new data, Reuters wrote: “U.S. producer prices were unexpectedly unchanged in June as a tariff-driven increase in the cost of goods such as communication and related equipment was offset by softening demand for travel services.” ]

Vance replied to the Geiger post about 50 forecasters missing the mark, writing: “It’s almost like the economics profession doesn’t fully understand tariffs.”

Vance’s comment was echoed by Trump loyalists in the comments, a number of whom joined the Vice President in knocking “experts” and questioning Bloomberg’s politics and acumen. Countering those voices were others deriding Vance for allegedly mischaracterizing the news — “When you’re cheering for a bad number instead of trying to give an accurate forecast.” (Still others were looking for a fuller picture. As one wrote: “Not really when you take into account our dollars have lost 11% globally. Inflation is actually MUCH higher.”)

The Bloomberg survey reported: “US wholesale inflation moderated in June as a sharp decline in the costs of travel-related services blunted a pickup in goods prices. The producer price index was unchanged from a month earlier, after an upwardly revised 0.3% gain in May, and US wholesale prices rose 2.3% from a year earlier.”

Justin Wolfers, professor of economics and public policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, and a Senior Fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, replied to Vance: “The PPI explicitly excludes imports.” Wolfers then added a script flip on Vance’s take: “It’s almost like tariff boosters don’t fully understand economics.”