It’s over?

The young women knelt down to stroke Cody’s long silky fur. During that bout of canine eroticism we talked about sales in their store, the orange guy and Yanks. “The Americans are still coming to shop,” one said. “But they’re sheepish. It’s all like, ‘don’t blame us’ and nobody says they voted for him.”

One woman had planned on going to Myrtle Beach during March Break. The other to Vegas this summer. Both cancelled.

None of this is good. Financial markets are in a complete funk. Teslas are being keyed and burned. National anthems booed. Autoworkers furloughed. And while people with RRSPs and 401k accounts lost $5 trillion as stock markets tanked Friday, President Trump was hosting a Saudi golf tourney in Florda, then a Mar-a-Lago fund-raising dinner at which guests paid $1 million to have access to him. In the pro shop they could buy club covers with his face on them. And replica Sharpies – the kind he uses to sign executive orders for mass firings and deportations.

Well, the real-world implications for some people are hitting hard as Fortress America emerges behind walls of protectionism ad xenophobia.

Behold the border. It’s hard now. Shoppers have to pay tariffs. Canadian snowbirds must register with the American government. Guards can take your phone or laptop, download the data and go through social media looking for comments negative to the president or the administration. (Never mention this blog.) Those refused entry are detained for later deportation. In that case you can also expect to be fingerprinted.

And pity the poor little beavers with Florida condos.

There’s a mass exodus happening for Canadians with American real estate caught in a perfect storm. The dollar is worth only 69 cents, making ownership costs soar. Insurance premiums have swollen insanely. New state rules have bloated condo fees and brought special assessments. And, to make it all worse, the local property market is collapsing.

Take a look at available listings in the state (this is happening in many areas of the US as consumer confidence is tested by Tariff Man, while recession looms):

But at the same time as homeowners stampede the exits, hoping a recent drop in mortgage rates (caused because panicked investors are flocking to bonds, driving yields down), sales are crumbling. Here are current pending sales in the key southern region of the Sunshine State. Gloomy.

The inevitable has occurred. Prices are down 17%, and continue to erode. The value of a Florida home by square foot is now in the $330 range. Compare that with a so-so resale Toronto condo, at $1,000. New units in the GTA can command 40% above that.

In short, norms are being set on their head. The flow of money across the border that juiced both nations has hit a Trumpian tourniquet. Canadian border merchants are starting to hurt while our auto plants go silent and economists fret. Stagflation seems a reasonable outcome now – the combination of layoffs, a shrinking economy and rising prices. Ask your grandfather about that.

Meanwhile Canadians, like Cody’s groupies, are the greatest source of foreign tourism spending in America. Over $22 billion last year. Plus a million of us have been in the habit of spending the entire winter in the south, frequenting Early Bird dinners plus shopping for flip-flops. And (until now) buying condos.

It looks like the US Fed will let inflationary pressures build and not rush to drop interest rates in order to save the stock market. It’s even conceivable rates will rise this year, as shocking tariffs bolster the price of houses, cars, shoes and electronics for Americans.

Everyone is about to get a little worse off. Oh, the brave and liquid will likely load up on cheap equities. The opportunistic may buy some Florida real estate from squished beavers. The oligarchs and rich grifters will share Trump’s table and largesse, awaiting lower taxes. For the rest of us, it’s just scary.

It may not seem so not but, like the snow, this president cannot last.

About the picture: As the temps hit 20 in southern Ontario a few days ago, Cody would not relinguish the last, fading pile of dirty snow. So much shedding to do, and so little time.

To be in touch or send a picture of your beast, email to ‘[email protected]’.

Source: https://www.greaterfool.ca/2025/04/06/its-over-7/