Observers who lauded Elon Musk for addressing a perceived environmental threat by pioneering Tesla electric vehicles to mitigate climate change now castigate him for voluntarily conducting a forensic audit of government financial management. “Follow the money” revelations of federal fiscal malfeasance portending increased corporate and personal taxation have led to reassessment of international trade inequities as a means of returning to balanced national budgets. Initial U.S. tariff proposals have triggered serious stock-market devaluation pending a likely period of country-by-country negotiations. Ironically, essentially the same group of admirers now reviles Musk’s public service for initially disruptive personal wealth implications affecting all Americans. His recognition as an environmental warrior has been succeeded by disparagement for uncovering disposition of public funds to dubious domestic and foreign causes. The detractors, who have an affinity for the pejorative term ‘billionaire’, seem unaware that Musk’s personal financial loss on paper currently dwarfs that of nearly all others in that category. Knee-jerk reactions ignore the likelihood that present speculation about the outcome should be resolved expeditiously by separate negotiations with each of our trading partners. A half-century of trade imbalance dating from a post-World War II era when the United States was primarily an industrial exporter needs thoughtful updating in the interest of all participants. Phil Osifer