Meet the World-Famous Economist Whose Jaw Dropped When He Learned Trump Used His Research to Tank Global Stock Markets
Donald Trump was called out by an economist for using his research for his absurd tariffs increase.
April 8 2025, Published 1:10 p.m. ET
A world-famous economist has been left shook after learning Donald Trump used his research as the basis to increase tariffs and cause complete chaos.
University of Chicago Economics Professor Brent Neiman has claimed the administration didn't exactly use his information correctly, and he couldn't believe watching Trump hold up a sign showing the amount of tariffs he was planning to impose, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Trump's tariffs is already causing a meltdown across the United States... and the world.
On April 3, Neiman – a Biden-era Treasury official – watched along with America Trump ramble about tariffs and the amount the United States is supposedly charged.
"My first question, when the White House unveiled its tariff regime was: How on Earth did they calculate such huge rates?" Neiman wrote in an op-ed for the New York Times.
He continued: "The Office of the US Trade Representative released its methodology and cited an academic paper produced by four economists, including me, seemingly in support of their numbers.
"But they got it wrong. Very wrong."
A world-famous economist accused the president of fumbling the numbers during his now infamous tariffs speech.
Trump's 10 percent "baseline" tariff kicked off on April 5 and impacted all of US imports except items from Mexico and Canada. More tariffs on goods from 57 trading partners, including the European Union and China, go into effect on Wednesday, April 9.
The shock tariffs has left the global markets in complete disarray, with The Dow Jones Industrial Average, S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite falling by more than 5%.
According to Neiman, the Trump administration added a 25 percent rate to the formula he and his colleagues had created – meaning the tariff rates the former reality star imposed should all be four times less.
He explained: "Where does 25 percent come from? Is it related to our work? I don't know. Our findings suggest the calculated tariffs should be dramatically smaller – perhaps one-fourth as large."
The professor also called out Trump, 78, for leveraging the "reciprocal tariffs" in hopes of ending trade deficits with the country's major trading partners.
"Is this a reasonable goal? It is not," Neiman said.
Trump's good friend Elon Musk has also been negatively impacted by the tariffs, losing billions of dollars.
He continued: "Americans spend more on clothing made in Sri Lanka than Sri Lankans spend on American pharmaceuticals and gas turbines. So what?
"Not every country has similar natural resources or development levels. The deficit numbers don't suggest, let alone prove, unfair competition."
Neiman said the new tariffs "have enormous implications for workers, firms, consumers and stock markets around the globe" and warned they will "bring average tariff rates to their highest level in 100 years."
His solution? For Trump's tariffs policy to be booted.
The tariffs have already negatively impacted the stock markets as well as Trump's close pal Elon Musk. After Trump announced the tariffs, the Tesla founder saw his net worth cut down by $30.9billion.
However, he wasn't the only one to lose money as Amazon boss Jeff Bezos also had his net worth drop down by $27billion.
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More tariffs are expected to come on April 9, including on China.
Even Musk's own brother Kimbal has called out the tariffs, as he raged on X: "Who would have thought that Trump was actually the most high tax American President in generations.
"Through his tariff strategy, Trump has implemented a structural, permanent tax on the American consumer."
He added: "Even if he is successful in bringing jobs on shore through the tariff tax, prices will remain high and the tax on consumption will remain the form of higher prices because we are simply not as good at making things."
