Keep your head if you’re spooked by USA Tariffs

That summer marked my very first trip abroad from Italy, where I was born. I spent those months in London, and it completely changed the way I saw the world. It was a challenging time, but it sparked something in me. For the first time, I began to think seriously about becoming an entrepreneur.



Back then, I didn’t fully understand what being an entrepreneur meant—not in a global sense at least. But the idea started forming in my mind: that I could create something, make money, travel the world, and eventually become part of a certain elite. That summer planted the seed. I started wondering: what does it mean to open a company? To own one? How does it all work?



And then in October, I came across the news of the Asian financial crisis. It was the first time I really became aware of global markets and their volatility. The internet wasn’t widely available yet, so access to information was limited. But I was curious—I started digging, reading whatever I could get my hands on, and asking people who knew more than I did.



That curiosity led me even deeper. I discovered that financial crises weren’t new; they’d been happening for centuries. In fact, the first recorded financial crisis in the modern era was the famous Tulip Mania in Amsterdam, way back in 1637.



Since 1997, we’ve seen crisis after crisis unfold in waves. Each time, people declare it’s unprecedented. But in reality, the pattern is familiar. Financial crises are part of a cycle—sometimes short, sometimes long—but always repeating in some form. Recognizing these patterns isn’t just about predicting the next crash; it’s about understanding how to navigate the world with more awareness, discipline, and resilience.



Since 1997, financial crises have unfolded in a clear, cyclical rhythm—each one different in detail but similar in structure. It began with the Asian Financial Crisis, sparked by currency collapses and debt defaults across East Asia, revealing the dangers of rapid growth without solid foundations. Just a few years later, the dot-com bubble burst in 2000, exposing the irrational exuberance surrounding early internet companies. Then came the 2008 Global Financial Crisis, rooted in the U.S. housing market and amplified by excessive leverage and complex financial products, triggering a worldwide recession. In its wake, Europe faced its own reckoning during the 2010–2012 sovereign debt crisis, as countries like Greece and Spain struggled under public debt and austerity. In 2015, China’s stock market crash shook global confidence, showing that even the world’s rising powers were not immune to speculative bubbles. The COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to an unprecedented economic shutdown and a brief but severe market crash, only to be followed by massive stimulus that laid the groundwork for the next phase of inflation and instability. By 2022–2023, sharp interest rate hikes to fight inflation caused new stress in the banking system, leading to the collapse of institutions like Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse. Across all these events, the pattern is unmistakable: growth leads to excess, excess leads to crisis, and crisis resets the system—until the cycle begins again.



To everyone making noise about an “unprecedented” financial crisis because of Trump’s tariffs or the latest global tension, let me remind you: it’s not about if a crisis happens—it’s about how you react to it. Financial crises are part of the cycle. They’ve always happened, and they always will. What changes is our mindset and how we navigate through them.



A lot of economists and journalists love to dramatize every market move as if it’s the end of the world—but most of the time, it’s just noise, designed to grab attention, clicks, and headlines. Many forget history, or worse, ignore it.



Personally, I don’t see Trump’s tariffs as a sign of economic doom. To me, it’s more of a negotiation tactic—a bold way of saying: “Let’s sit down and make trade fair for both sides.” The U.S. is tired of carrying the weight for everyone else, especially when it doesn’t pay off. This administration is focused inward, on rebuilding and strengthening at home. And like everything else in economics and politics—this too is cyclical.



To those feeling anxious and unsure of what to do, I offer this: go back and read “If” by Rudyard Kipling.

“If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs… If you can wait and not be tired by waiting… If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you… Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it.”



And as Warren Buffett wisely said: “Keep your head if you’re spooked by tariffs.”
Because in the end, it’s not about the crisis—it’s about how you respond to it.