I had thought though that they had actually lowered that quite a bit, but it was temporary. Maybe I dreamed it! Its possible.
BKb
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I had thought though that they had actually lowered that quite a bit, but it was temporary. Maybe I dreamed it! Its possible.
BKb
TBH, I haven't followed it too closely, but I believe what they lowered was that 40% number. Raising it was their knee-jerk reaction to Trump's tariffs, then after some negotiations, they brought it back down to the previous 25% level until "we" get the shit straightened out. BUT ... even at the "lower" 25%, we're STILL paying 10% more than any other country for auto imports into the country. Typical Chinese and all these years, we've been letting them get away with it.
I once said: “Our current state of red/blue politics is like the final throes of a bad marriage. It’s become not about achieving reconciliation, or even an end, but how much pain can be inflicted before one side walks away…”
Okay, it wasn't me - but a very wise man who shows up here occasionally.. Will .. 1/24/2013
I'm telling you people.. (this is actually me).. "We" (as in 50% +-) just see things *differently*. I have a couple "token" liberal friends and we discuss this regularly.. We just flat don't see things the same way.
I don’t see things as any of you and it’s getting pretty lonely for us Independents. I just wish all you Reds and Blues would get your civil war over with so we can get on with things.
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My brother (a flaming Democrat) has lived in Northern California (suburb of San Francisco) for the past 45 years. The last time he visited my house he looked at my gun case (with 8 long guns and 4 handguns) and just stood there shaking his head. I then told him that’s just a few of them, the rest are in the safe. He looked at me and asked why I need so many guns. I then told him I DON’T need them. He then said, “Then why do you have them?”
I answered with, “ Because I like them and I WANT them!”
He just gave me an incredulous look and shook his head. He just couldn’t wrap his head around the concept no matter how much we “discussed” the subject.
My wife does that and asks the exact same question when she looks at all my fishing rods.
She’s a democrat too, so you must be right.
BKB
My wife does that and asks the exact same question when she looks at all my fishing rods.
She’s a democrat too, so you must be right.
BKB
You can generally spot a Liberal from a mile away. They have a habit of repeating themselves. [emoji1787]
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And dammit I try to catch it before you do every time and missed one.
Dufus.
BkB
well Posty, I may not agree with all your politics (you tend to bring too facts to the party) but I'm still planning on sending you some fig preserves soon. Unless of course, you won't accept them from a right wingnut
I look forward to your sweet wife’s fig preserves every year QA! The first thing I always do is make a pan of hot biscuits.
BKb
I look forward to your sweet wife’s fig preserves every year QA! The first thing I always do is make a pan of hot biscuits.
BKb
And just to keep the news current......be best!
BKb
Attachment 10865
I change that Posty: "It can't be fixed with only tariffs."
And I'd add that it cannot be fixed at all without them. But a lot depends upon what you mean by the word fixed. If we mean put things back together to the way things went for the last few decades where millions sat by while their livelihoods were shipped overseas, the stability of a whole lot more was put in jeopardy by the importation of millions for indentured servitude, all the while an elite reaped the benefits of this lopsided system? That ain't gonna happen brother.
Those of us with a bird's eye view of US heavy industry watched horrified at what was happening. We warned that once you strip mined this economy it was dead in the water. That replacing it with Wall Street cons and financial fever dreams and bubble economics would result in a violent backlash. We were laughed at and ignored. Now that we were proven correct the guilty parties who pushed this lunacy want a mulligan. They want a do-over.
Good luck with that.
And if you mean "fixed" as in going back to the days of US industrial might where one breadwinner could provide for a normal sized family? A world where decent healthcare and employment and a solid future for your kids was in the cards? Where about 5% of the world population in the US continue to use about 25% of the world's energy in order to prop up our standard of living at the cost of everyone else? Well that ain't gonna happen either. There is a price to be paid for throwing out a system where men literally fought and died to force change upon unwilling elites. And a price to be paid for trading it all for the tender mercies of the so-call "free market". There is also the problem of timing... this ain't the US where citizens took control of their own destiny and this ain't the world in which that action took place.
Right now this nation is dominated by rackets. Health-care, education, housing, banking, etc, etc, etc. And don't get me started on how much we spend on defense and what we have decided to accomplish with that investment. Right now the parasitical nature of all of these rackets has weakened us to the point of collapse. And no, we aren't going to fix most of that by enforcing trade fairness on China. But until we start attacking these centers of graft and corruption (which includes the way the rich have gotten richer by hurting productive sectors of the economy) we cannot even start repairing the damage.
I rarely do this, but I am going to put up a link to a post that I think captures my opinion on how we have handled out relationship with China. I think it captures the unvarnished truth as seen by someone with unique insight into Asian culture and its people: http://scholars-stage.blogspot.com/2...king-dead.html
Will
I miss your regular insertions here Willy. Good read, but it's one of those things I had to read twice (my mush-for-a-brain needs extra time to absorb some writings). Many parts remind me of the frustration I faced while speaking at a National Parts & Service Manager's Meeting back in the late 70's. I was speaking directly to the GM brass attending and said if we don't get off our asses and quit producing SHIT products only because we know we can shove them down consumer's throats due to ZERO competition, our auto industry, as we know it. is doomed. I was laughed of the stage! I remember my face was beet red ... partly from frustration and partly from embarrassment. I started second-guessing myself and wondering if it was ME that was an idiot. Needless to say, we've been playing catch-up ever since and have even had to come up with government bail-outs to save our domestic auto industry. It seems we are a complacent society (or simply lazy?) until we realize what we once had, no longer exists ... and may never again exist.
One paragraph of your attachment really stood out to me:
"Shaping what China is" was not a inherently bad strategy. The attempt to co-opt Chinese upper class, cajole Party leadership into liberalizing their economy, incentivize the Chinese to have a "stakehold" in a system of norms and institutions that we created decades earlier, and infect their population with an irrepressible love for liberty was not doomed at conception. It was a cagey gambit. This gambit came very close to succeeding. This is why the Party leaders reacted so violently against it.
I believe that was actually accomplished with Hong Kong ... and the (communist) Chinese are are playing hell figuring out what to do with a population that has experienced "liberty" and wants no part of giving that up. I have no idea how that mess is going to end. The world is watching so China has to walk on eggshells here IMHO.
Good post Willy, and I will have to sit down this evening and digest it.
My point about tariffs isn’t that tariffs can’t be part of an equalization strategy where trade concerned. My main point though is, unless you have a time machine, there ain’t no going back to the good old days of out-producing everyone else in the world.
And ‘globalization’ isn’t a strategy that anyone is responsible for (nor is smart enough to do anyway). Its the emergence of third world countries into the world of trade. The simple fact is: where materials, and manpower, and yes de-regulation are at levels that we can’t or won’t match, the markets will naturally move to those economies where profits can be maximized. It’s not an evil plot, it’s not because of the foolishness of our leaders, and it can’t be fixed by implementing economic myopia and closing our ranks. We have to find new ways to compete. Free trade doesn’t solve it either, but the freer the better.
So....I was pointing out that simplistic solutions, like having a trade war and imposing tariffs won’t fix this complex problem.
And we compete against many ‘planned economies’ throughout the world. What, so we must shut our doors and let our competitors figure out how to do business there? Is that what. i on had in mind when he opened the door to China and much of Asia in the 70’s?
A third rate real estate tycoon, no matter how successful a cheater he was in business, ain’t gonna come in and set e everything right either.
BKB
The point is, at least he's trying to do SOMETHING. Heck, why not? A Hollywood movie star took a pretty big bite out of the power of the Soviet Union when nobody else could.
As for China, two oil tycoons, a corrupt ex-Governor of Arkansas and a Community Organizer couldn't accomplish crapola (never even tried) ... why isn't it worth letting a "third rate real estate tycoon" take a stab at it?
Or is status quo acceptable?
Because the idiotic plan of his is going to require a number of bailouts of various industries that are betting screwed over. If you think the EU will stand for this bullshit, then you are really smoking something good. So then we’ll have a trade war with everyone.
BKB