Posted on 03/09/2016 3:43:27 AM PST by expat_panama
...when making laws or economic decisions, it is imperative that we examine not only what is seen but also what is unseen. In other words, examine the whole picture...
...A concrete example was the Bush administration’s 8% to 30% tariffs in 2002 on several types of imported steel. They were levied in an effort to protect jobs in the ailing U.S. steel industry.
Those tariffs caused the domestic price for some steel products, such as hot-rolled steel, to rise by as much as 40%....
...there is no such thing as a free lunch...
...steel-users — such as the U.S. auto industry, its suppliers, heavy construction equipment manufacturers and others — were harmed by higher steel prices.
It is estimated that the steel tariffs caused at least 4,500 job losses in no fewer than 16 states, with more than 19,000 jobs lost in California, 16,000 in Texas and about 10,000 each in Ohio, Michigan and Illinois.
In other words, industries that use steel were forced to pay higher prices...
...back in 2002, the typical hourly wage of a steelworker ranged between $15 and $20, in addition to fringe benefits — so we might be talking about an annual wage package averaging $50,000 to $55,000 — how much sense did it make for American consumers to have to pay $800,000 in higher prices, not to mention lost employment in steel-using industries, to save each job?
It would have been cheaper to tax ourselves and give each of those 1,700 steelworkers a $100,000 annual check...
...When Congress creates a special privilege for some Americans, it must of necessity come at the expense of other Americans...
...Congress ought to get out of the miracle business and leave miracle-making up to God.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
Saving jobs in the face of a rapidly changing economy is exactly what government is tasked to do. That’s why we have so many choices when it comes to buggy whips today. Thank you big government.
Ramp up? You mean be created don't you? U.S. businesses exterminated most of our consumer product industries decades ago. Who will invest the money to recreate them from scratch?
If their was a general embargo due to war or policy, do you really think nobody would step up and build product here? What kind of stupid are you?
their = there
This is nonsense. People advocate for free trade because it lowers barriers to trade so that trade can increase. When trade increases everyone benefits. Free trade necessitates less government interference in the economy, but the burden placed on American business by onerous regulation and high taxes is well understood, especially by guys like Williams.
Why anyone would complain about excessive government regulation and taxation, and then support government imposed tariffs (increased taxes) and greater government regulation of the economy, is a mystery.
Who? Who would invest the billions necessary knowing that a change by Congress would put their products at a cost disadvantage?
“This is nonsense. People advocate for free trade because it lowers barriers to trade so that trade can increase. When trade increases everyone benefits. Free trade necessitates less government interference in the economy, but the burden placed on American business by onerous regulation and high taxes is well understood, especially by guys like Williams.
Why anyone would complain about excessive government regulation and taxation, and then support government imposed tariffs (increased taxes) and greater government regulation of the economy, is a mystery.”
We do not have free trade...we have stupid trade...Trump’s goal is to have free trade, but we have to fix a multi-dimensional problem to do it. It is complicated to understand and I appreciate that. Trumps main emphasis is to renegotiate for free trade, not to simply impose any tariffs first...that may clue you in. But, that is not the hardest part of the puzzle, it is actually the easiest part. The most difficult will be the regulatory and taxation changes our congress will need to make to help. That is the tough part.
< sarc > Carrier has announced a 10% price reduction on all AC units Hecho en Mexico. < /sarc >
Trade Economics bump for later...
Free Traitors™ are the most simplistic thinkers I have ever come across. You can’t have a conversation with them because they cannot fathom that protectionism actually works and is a viable form of economic policy, a policy that created the USA’s manufacturing base in the first place. They are child like in every way.
Exactly! Because a $20 tariff on imported oil, for example, wouldn't raise the price of domestic oil, right?
I was talking about manufacturing goods but we can bring mining into this discussion as long as you acknowledge that mining and manufacturing are different beasts.
What's stupid about a willing buyer and a willing seller coming together to make a deal that is perfectly legal with the least amount of government interference possible?
Trump’s goal is to have free trade,
By increasing the taxes American consumers pay for products by 35%? Doesn't sound very free to me.
Trumps main emphasis is to renegotiate for free trade, not to simply impose any tariffs first.
Right. If the other guys don't do what he says he's going to dramatically increase prices for American consumers.
The most difficult will be the regulatory and taxation changes our congress will need to make to help.
Instead of threatening consumers with higher prices or starting a trade war, the next president should be focused only on reducing regulations, lowering the tax burden, and reigning in the litigators. That would do more to make America competitive than any attempt to further regulate the billions of transactions undertaken by hundreds of millions of people. Someone with any knowledge of economics would know this.
I was talking about tariffs in general.
but we can bring mining into this discussion as long as you acknowledge that mining and manufacturing are different beasts.
Yes, different. So the $20 tariff on imported oil does what to domestic oil prices?
Ph.D. (like it matters)
Another problem is that welfare recipients vote. Too bad isn't it?
Closest you've come to an intelligent comment, but well outside the field of economics.
Probably a lot fewer because not many people would be able to afford a 100% us built cell phone. It's almost impossible to get 100% US built anything anyway.
Read I Pencil by Leonard Reed to get an idea of how complicated even simple things are (kind of out of date, but still valid).
Yes, different. So the $20 tariff on imported oil does what to domestic oil prices?
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