President Donald Trump’s stupidity, incompetence, and self-delusion—all of which were on full display this past week, as he single-handedly pushed the country toward economic ruin—are so profound as to make everyone else in the corridors of power, even House Republicans, look downright masterful. But the stock market’s attendant seesawing is a reminder that the bigwigs on Wall Street also have absolutely no clue what they’re doing.

Politically, and to a lesser degree economically, America has just endured one of the most insane weeks of one of the most insane decades in its history. Last Wednesday, a.k.a. “Liberation Day,” Trump announced a trade war against the entire world. The stock market cratered, shedding $10 trillion in just three days. A recession seemed inevitable; a global depression loomed. And then, as quickly as Trump launched the war, he retreated: On Wednesday, as the new tariffs took effect, he announced he was suspending the most severe “reciprocal” tariffs for 90 days. The stock market promptly shot back up.

All of the evidence suggests that the country’s economic picture is bleaker now than it was before the market crashed. Sure, Wednesday was Wall Street’s best day in more than 17 years—but that only sounds good until you realize the last rally to exceed it was in October 2008, amid the market fluctuations of the financial crisis. And Trump is still very serious about tariffs: His across-the-board 10 percent tariffs on all countries remain in effect, as do some of the tariffs on Canada and Mexico, and he has increased tariffs on China to an unfathomable 145 percent. It’s also likely that his weeklong saber-rattling has permanently damaged the country’s relationship with key trading partners, which will have untold........

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