Trumpenomics
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Broad swaths of Western PA, Eastern Ohio, and Michigan view trade deficits as the reason why they and their communities are riddled with drugs, overdoses, and rusted out husks of factories. They don’t blame their unions, which essentially drove the factories into bankruptcy, but instead blame the foreign manufacturers. Japanese steel, in particular. Trump feels beholden to those groups. They got him elected, after all.
@LuFins-Dad said in Trumpenomics:
Broad swaths of Western PA, Eastern Ohio, and Michigan view trade deficits as the reason why they and their communities are riddled with drugs, overdoses, and rusted out husks of factories. They don’t blame their unions, which essentially drove the factories into bankruptcy, but instead blame the foreign manufacturers. Japanese steel, in particular. Trump feels beholden to those groups. They got him elected, after all.
Right, so he thinks (or pretends to, at least) that he can make US manufacturing competitive without reducing the salaries to competitive levels by taxing the shit out of foreign products and we can all go back to living in the golden age of the 1970's.
Funnily enough, I remember the 1970's as being a bit shit, to be honest.
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@LuFins-Dad said in Trumpenomics:
Broad swaths of Western PA, Eastern Ohio, and Michigan view trade deficits as the reason why they and their communities are riddled with drugs, overdoses, and rusted out husks of factories. They don’t blame their unions, which essentially drove the factories into bankruptcy, but instead blame the foreign manufacturers. Japanese steel, in particular. Trump feels beholden to those groups. They got him elected, after all.
Right, so he thinks (or pretends to, at least) that he can make US manufacturing competitive without reducing the salaries to competitive levels by taxing the shit out of foreign products and we can all go back to living in the golden age of the 1970's.
Funnily enough, I remember the 1970's as being a bit shit, to be honest.
@Doctor-Phibes said in Trumpenomics:
@LuFins-Dad said in Trumpenomics:
Broad swaths of Western PA, Eastern Ohio, and Michigan view trade deficits as the reason why they and their communities are riddled with drugs, overdoses, and rusted out husks of factories. They don’t blame their unions, which essentially drove the factories into bankruptcy, but instead blame the foreign manufacturers. Japanese steel, in particular. Trump feels beholden to those groups. They got him elected, after all.
Right, so he thinks (or pretends to, at least) that he can make US manufacturing competitive without reducing the salaries to competitive levels by taxing the shit out of foreign products and we can all go back to living in the golden age of the 1970's.
Funnily enough, I remember the 1970's as being a bit shit, to be honest.
Not at all. I very much doubt that’s the goal. Oh, he would like to bring some more manufacturing back to the US, but the little that does happen to come back will go to Texas or Florida. States that are more competitive in recruiting business interests. The fact is that Western Pennsylvania has been too ruined by poor work ethics and standards thanks to those unions that it won’t recover through manufacturing, but the area is slowly being rehabilitated through gentrification. And they hate that, too. But oh well.
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I think Pennsylvania etc. have quite a bit in common with the north of England. We had mills, coal mining, steel, car manufacturing. Leyland (of Leyland Motors and British Leyland fame) is about 10 miles from where I lived. When I was at school the joke was that if you worked there you got a free company mattress for the night shift. I do remember there were a lot of strikes in the 1970's. There's nothing left of it now, of course.
Boris Johnson promised to re-invest heavily in the north following Brexit. They haven't seen much other than bullshit.
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A great piece from a manufacturer with experience here and in China. An excerpt:
To start manufacturing in the United States, a company needs to make a large investment. They will need to buy new machinery and if no existing building is suitable, they will need to construct a new building. These things cost money, a lot, in fact. And significantly more in the USA, than they do in other countries. In exchange for this risk, there must be some reward. If that reward is uncertain, no one will do it.
Within the past month, the president put a 25% tariff on Mexico, and then got rid of it, only to apply it again, and then get rid of it a second time. Then, last week, he was expected to apply new tariffs to Mexico, but didn’t.
If you’re building a new factory in the United States, your investment will alternate between maybe it will work, and catastrophic loss according to which way the tariffs and the wind blows. No one is building factories right now, and no one is renting them, because there is no certainty that any of these tariffs will last. How do I know? I built a factory in Austin, Texas in an industrial area. I cut its rent 40% two weeks ago and I can’t get a lick of interest from industrial renters.
The tariffs have frozen business activity because no one wants to take a big risk dependent on a policy that may change next week.
Even further, the tariffs are confusing, poorly communicated, and complex. Today, if you want to import something from China, you need to add the original import duty, plus a 20% “fentanyl tariff”, plus a 34% “reciprocal tariff”, and an additional 25% “Venezuelan oil” tariff, should it be determined that China is buying Venezualan oil. The problem is there is no list of countries which are importing Venezuelan oil provided by the White House, so you don’t know if you do or don’t need to add that 25% and you also don’t know when any of these tariffs will go into effect because of unclear language.
As such, you can’t calculate your costs, either with certainty or accuracy, therefore, not only do you not build a factory in the United States, you cease all business activity, the type of thing that can cause a recession, if not worse.
For the past month, as someone who runs a business in this industry, I have spent a huge portion of my time just trying to keep up with the constant changes, instead of running my business.
Whole thing worth a read.
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Heads they win, tails we lose.
The more common strategy is to dismiss anybody who cares as a "wealthy wall streeter". That this is the price we need to pay, for main street.
But there are so many people on main street with 401ks, depending on them for their retirements. Not to mention the whole job loss and recession thing, which won't go well for main street either.
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Senator Kennedy begs Trump to take deals and end the tariffs:
Link to videoEducation is extremely important.
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Maybe I'm just not watching the news enough, but I don't have clarity on what the end goal truly is for all of this. Manufacturing back into the USA? Lower tariffs against USA imports in other countries?
@89th said in Trumpenomics:
Maybe I'm just not watching the news enough, but I don't have clarity on what the end goal truly is for all of this. Manufacturing back into the USA? Lower tariffs against USA imports in other countries?
Do more manufacturing, and get better trade deals with other countries.
I'm sure they'll both happen to some extent, but the cost will be a likely recession, with small and medium sized businesses harmed the most.
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Senator Kennedy begs Trump to take deals and end the tariffs:
Link to video@Horace said in Trumpenomics:
Senator Kennedy begs Trump to take deals and end the tariffs:
Link to videoThe comments are disturbing.
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@Horace said in Trumpenomics:
Senator Kennedy begs Trump to take deals and end the tariffs:
Link to videoThe comments are disturbing.
@LuFins-Dad said in Trumpenomics:
The comments are disturbing.
I shouldn't worry, you're sampling a subset of people who feel the best use of their time in contributing to this debate is to post remarks on YouTube.
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@LuFins-Dad said in Trumpenomics:
The comments are disturbing.
I shouldn't worry, you're sampling a subset of people who feel the best use of their time in contributing to this debate is to post remarks on YouTube.
@Doctor-Phibes said in Trumpenomics:
@LuFins-Dad said in Trumpenomics:
The comments are disturbing.
I shouldn't worry, you're sampling a subset of people who feel the best use of their time in contributing to this debate is to post remarks on YouTube.
At times, your hatred of all things political causes you to descend into absolute stupid supposed witicisms. Do you know John Kennedy? Ever sat across the room from him and listened to him work a meeting? Ever watch him go through a financial spreadsheet?
“Cry havoc and let slip the DOGE of war!”
Those who cheered as J-6 American prisoners were locked in solitary for 18 months without trial, now suddenly fight tooth and nail for foreign terrorists’ "due process". — Buck Sexton
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@Doctor-Phibes said in Trumpenomics:
@LuFins-Dad said in Trumpenomics:
The comments are disturbing.
I shouldn't worry, you're sampling a subset of people who feel the best use of their time in contributing to this debate is to post remarks on YouTube.
At times, your hatred of all things political causes you to descend into absolute stupid supposed witicisms. Do you know John Kennedy? Ever sat across the room from him and listened to him work a meeting? Ever watch him go through a financial spreadsheet?
@Jolly said in Trumpenomics:
At times, your hatred of all things political causes you to descend into absolute stupid supposed witicisms. Do you know John Kennedy? Ever sat across the room from him and listened to him work a meeting? Ever watch him go through a financial spreadsheet?
I wasn't commenting on Kennedy's speech in any way, shape or form. I was commenting on the YouTube comments to it, which I believe is what LD was referring to.
Do try and keep up.
And if you're going to call me stupid, at least check your spelling first
