Preparing for Financial Instability under a Trump Economy

In this episode of “Morning Coffee with Professor Alex,” I make comparisons between a private business and the Trump Economy. So, enjoy your cup of coffee as we continue to prepare financially for our futures.

Life Slowed Me Down Recently

First things first: I know I haven’t posted in a while. I took a break from social media for a few days. I wasn’t doing much, just taking care of what I needed to with obligations from the university. Unfortunately, our beloved fur baby, Bella, passed away on Saturday morning. It was emotionally exhausting, and the next 24 hours were tough, with very little sleep and all those emotions to deal with.

Listen to this podcast.

Anyone who has fur babies knows how hard it is. Losing them feels like losing a member of the family. So just hang in there and focus on the memories.

Now, let’s get down to “business” and talk about how President Trump is tanking the economy.

How to Bankrupt a Business

So, what am I going to talk about today? Well, here’s a thought: Imagine you’re working at a business you’ve been with for quite some time. Then, a new person comes in as the President of the corporation. Of course, you know how it goes. There will be shakeups everywhere. The new President brings in their right-hand person as Vice President.

Now, this business being taken over is a complex one. But here’s the kicker—the new President spends the first month golfing for almost 30% of the time. Yes, golfing! And to top it off, from Friday through Tuesday, the President of this company is working from home. Also, note that the company President’s home is in another state, and the expenses of travel are passed on to the company.

At the same time, this President complains that employees shouldn’t be working from home. Now, let’s talk about the Vice President—the “right-hand person.” You rarely see him. You don’t know what he is up to, but you do know he went skiing the other day.

To add to the chaos, the President brings in someone from outside the organization—not an employee, not someone on the payroll, just someone they know. This individual doesn’t receive any benefits and is given complete free rein. This person literally and figuratively walks into the business with a chainsaw, axing away programs, and you start seeing your colleagues lose their jobs. This isn’t a small business—it’s a major corporation.

• Times are Crazy. Slow Down and Keep Your Sanity

Now, every day when you go to work, you’re left wondering—are we supposed to listen to this person? They’re not even an employee. Then the President declares, yes, whatever DOGE says, you have to listen to them. So now, you’ve got this outsider appointed by the head of the company who brings in a group of 19- and 20-year-olds to write code for fixing the business. Meanwhile, the President of this company is nowhere to be found.

At this point, it feels like there are only three ways this situation could go, and one of them seems painfully obvious: layoffs. It’s hard not to feel like it’s looming over everyone as you watch colleagues being let go day after day.

You could keep your job, but you’d be working in a very toxic environment, and it would also be difficult to work there with all the cuts. If they get rid of, say, 10 people and you’re the only one left in that division, you’d have to do the work of 10 people. And all this without a raise. You might quit anyway. But what are the odds that this business flourishes? What are the odds that it expands or starts creating revenue under these circumstances?

The President of the company is never around. The Vice President? Half the time, you don’t even know where he is. Then there’s this outsider, not even a company employee, tearing the business apart from the inside out. It’s as if the business is being set up to fail. The reality is that anyone who owns a business has to be there 24/7. Nobody likes to hear it, but it’s true. Running a business requires all of your time, money, and effort.

I remember a student once asked me, “What’s the hardest part about practicing law?” Being a lawyer was the easy part. Running a business was the hard part. Practicing law is full-time, and running a business is also full-time.

You’re juggling cases and clients, trying to bring in revenue, finding new clients, managing staff, and ensuring everything runs smoothly. Anyone who says running a business is easy is lying. Whether your business makes $1,000,000 a year or $10,000, it’s a lot of hard work. If the boss is never there, how can the business succeed? It’s bound to go bankrupt eventually.

Trump is Destroying the Economy

But here’s the twist: this isn’t a business—it’s our federal government. This means we need to be prepared for a Trump economy.

Yesterday, a 25% tariff was imposed on Canada. Nobody knows why. Over what? Forty-two pounds of fentanyl? That’s about 14% of Trump’s body weight. Are we really going to war over that? Especially when fentanyl coming in from Canada accounts for just 0.2%? It seems like bullying.

Maybe it’s part of some ridiculous game to make Canada the 51st state. But Canada isn’t backing down. They’ve issued their own tariffs and are threatening to cut off power to northern states if this continues. Since I started editing this blog, it has now been confirmed that Ontario will have a 25% increase in electricity to the northern states of Michigan, Minnesota, and New York.

Imagine a business trying to compete in its industry while threatening its suppliers and customers. How’s that going to work out? It won’t. That business won’t last long. And that’s where we are now.

We have a President who spends too much time golfing while everyone else gets fired. It’s infuriating. The CEO—or President—takes over the business, costing it money, threatens everyone they do business with, and somehow, the long-term financial outlook isn’t bleak? If you don’t believe it is, you probably think it’s patriotic to pay more for products.

Chaos creates political instability. Political instability creates financial instability. So, be prepared financially for the Trump economy.

Take care of yourselves. If you have fur babies, cherish them. If you’ve lost one, hang in there—day by day is all we can do. Take care, everyone.

Colleges and universities can purchase my bankruptcy law textbook directly from Routledge Publishing. For paralegals and students buying single copies, you can do so via Amazon Books. To access my YouTube channel, click this link. You can also listen to my podcast on Spotify.

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• Bankruptcy
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