On Truth Social yesterday, President Trump promised a $2,000 “tariff dividend” for every American citizen (“high-income” excluded). It’s a prime example of the game-playing common in American politics:

People that are against tariffs are fools! We are now the richest, most respected country in the world, with almost no inflation, and a record stock market price. 401ks are highest ever. We are taking in trillions of dollars and will soon begin paying down our enormous debt, $37 trillion.

Fact check: So far the U.S. has collected $195 to $215 billion in tariff revenue. Shared among 340 million Americans, this equates to less than $600 each.

• To promise $2,000 payouts is madness. Joe Biden handed out $1,400 stimulus checks during covid and turbocharged inflation.

The president is flagrantly misleading the American public on the state of U.S. finances. Economist Kenneth Rogoff said this is “clearly about trying to game the Supreme Court,” which is set to rule on the legality of Trump’s tariffs. Rogoff said, “By telling Americans he was planning to hand out the money to everyone, he aims to foment populist furor.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent walked back the promise, saying the $2,000 could be in the form of tax cuts that have already been announced. Trump’s unrealistic statement didn’t last a day before smacking into reality, undermined by his own cabinet.

But such is common in democratic politics. Last week, New York City voted Zohran Mamdani to be mayor for his promises of free stuff that he is unlikely to pass and unable to pay for. Politicians pander to uneducated voters to get favor; when they are awarded power, they not only can’t deliver what they promised, they also create long-term economic problems in their failing effort.

There is, however, a world economy coming that sidesteps the problems both of democracy and of command economies and that will actually work.