EP 137: Keith Rabois and Zach Weinberg Debate: Are Tariffs a Smart Economic Weapon?
The Logan Bartlett ShowShow Notes
Debate between Keith Rabois and Zach Weinberg on what tariffs are actually trying to accomplish. One core theme: Tariffs aren’t fully about “bringing back factories,” but rather a negotiation tool to eliminate foreign trade barriers - ultimately aiming to increase free trade, not restrict it. We also got into: - What each of them would do if they were in charge - Whether the trade deficit is a meaningful metric or just a misunderstood talking point - If tariffs could be part of an initiative to replace income tax — shifting toward a more consumption-based tax system - If tariffs could successfully be used as a non-military tool to reduce drug supply to the US - If there’s a major disconnect between the new administration’s rhetoric and the actual economic goals behind the policy
One of the deepest economic conversations from the show’s recent history — and a rare debate where both sides had real logic behind their views.
(00:00) Introduction and Host's Biases (00:46) Keith's Perspective on Tariffs (03:05) Zach's Perspective and Clarifying Questions (05:14) Debating Tariff Strategies (07:45) Economic Implications and Free Trade (13:31) Trump's Tariff Policies and Goals (16:57) Global Trade and Protectionism (25:52) Final Thoughts on Tariffs and Trade (29:16) Discussion on Trade Tariffs and Partners (30:17) Impact of Tariffs on GDP and Debt (31:20) Political Coalitions and Trade Policies (32:00) Tariffs as Consumer Taxes (33:30) Debate on Trade Deficit and Tariff Rates (36:53) Regulatory Reforms and Economic Policies (47:25) Fentanyl Crisis and Trade Negotiations (51:06) Closing Remarks and Future Topics
Executive Producer: Rashad Assir Producer: Leah Clapper Mixing and editing: Justin Hrabovsky
Check out Unsupervised Learning, Redpoint's AI Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@UCUl-s_Vp-Kkk_XVyDylNwLA
🎙 Listen to the show Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-logan-bartlett-show/id1606770839 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/5WqBqDb4br3LlyVrdqOYYb?si=3076e6c1b5c94d63&nd=1
🎥 Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCugS0jD5IAdoqzjaNYzns7w?sub_confirmation=1
Follow on Socials 📸 Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/theloganbartlettshow 🐦 Twitter - https://twitter.com/loganbartshow 🎬 Clips on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@theloganbartlettshow
About the Show Logan Bartlett is a Software Investor at Redpoint Ventures - a Silicon Valley-based VC with $6B AUM and investments in Snowflake, DraftKings, Twilio, and Netflix. In each episode, Logan goes behind the scenes with world-class entrepreneurs and investors. If you're interested in the real inside baseball of tech, entrepreneurship, and start-up investing, tune in every Friday for new episodes.
More from The Logan Bartlett Show
Bret Taylor is the CEO of Sierra and Chairman of the Board of OpenAI. He previously served as co-CEO of Salesforce. I sat down with Bret to explore how the AI revolution compares to previous platform shifts and what it means for both startups and incumbents navigating this transition.
Logan is joined by Marc Benioff, the legendary co-founder and CEO of Salesforce, for a wide-ranging conversation on the rise of AI in enterprises. Marc explains how Salesforce has become the testing ground for its own “agentic” technology, using AI agents to handle customer support, boost sales, and transform marketing. He also shares his perspective on what’s hype vs. reality in the AI race, the opportunities for startups, and why the future is about humans and agents working together.
Joe Hudson is the founder of The Art of Accomplishment and has worked with many top leaders in Silicon Valley, including Sam Altman and executives from Apple, Google, the NBA, and more. He coaches the research and compute teams at OpenAI and works with all the major AI companies.
Chris Degnan is one of the most legendary CROs of this generation. He joined Snowflake as employee #13 and the 1st sales hire. He scaled the sales org from 0 to over $3B in ARR, spanned four CEOs, and retired as CRO after 11 years.
Logan sits down with Bipul Sinha, CEO and co-founder of Rubrik and former VC at Lightspeed and Blumberg Capital. Bipul shares what he learned transitioning from investor to founder, why intuition beats expertise, and how he built Rubrik into a category-defining business by betting on uncool ideas. They talk product-market fit in the AI era, what most VCs get wrong today, and why the enterprise IT market is still just getting started. It’s a conversation packed with hard-earned wisdom and bold takes on building lasting companies.