Tag Archives: China

Trump’s China Fallacy

trump-china

One aspect of Trump’s victory was his campaign of economic nationalism – that China was stealing our jobs and he was going to bring them back.  Of course, China wasn’t alone in his analysis – Mexico and Ford played a part as well.

The fact is, labor is a commodity and purchasers of labor will buy it at its cheapest.

If we want people to purchase American labor inn greater quantities, we have to make our labor cheaper.

Coyote lists but a few of the ways that we increase, needlessly, that price:

  • minimum wage laws, rising to $15 an hour in many parts of the country, and increasingly draconian overtime rules, both of which substantially raise the cost of hiring someone.
  • minimum benefit laws, including expensive health care requirements in Obamacare and a myriad of other state-level requirements such as mandatory paid sick leave or family leave
  • payroll taxes that act as sales taxes on labor  — we understand that cigarette taxes are supposed to reduce cigarette purchases but don’t understand that payroll taxes reduce purchases of labor?
  • employment regulations, such as chair laws and break laws in California, that make employing people more expensive and risky
  • employer liability laws, that make employers financially responsible for any knuckleheaded thing their employees do, even when these actions violate company policy (e.g. making racist or sexist statements)**
  • laws that make hiring far more risk, including those that limit the ability to do due diligence on potential employees (e.g. ban the box) and those that limit the ability of employers to fire poor performing employees.

We have yet to see how a President Trump will work to try and make the cost of American labor more equitable.

Poverty: Reducing The Number Of The World’s Poor

It’s not easy bein’ an American worker these days.  There’s a lot of pressure coming from around the world; folks wantin’ our jobs, willing to work for less money than we’re workin’ for.

It’s hard being an America sometimes.

But there’s an upside.  For the folks who care about such things, the world’s poorest people, people living a life exactly like their parents, grandparents and ancestors have lived for generations, are finally emerging from poverty.  Perhaps for the first time ever, families are leaving the shackles of poverty and rising towards the hope of a middle class, perhaps dare I say, even more.

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What If Iran Obtains a Nuclear Bomb

Every indication points to the eventuality of Iran obtaining the technology to build a nuclear bomb.  It is my humble opinion that:

  1. A nation has the right to obtain such technology.
  2. We have no real ability to prevent this eventuality.

Rather than expend resources and political capital on attempting to prevent the inevitable, I think that we should prepare for the undeniable.  A nuclear Iran.  And as part of that planning, we need to address the following.

Can We Trust Iran To Be Rational

In other words, is Iran a nation ruled by people who respond to incentives in the way and manner that we would respond to those same incentives?

It turns out that Soviet Russia was.  They understood and reacted rationally to our nuclear stand-off.  Same goes with India and Pakistan.

Or do we think that Iran is led by a mindset that is mostly based in ideology, a religious ideology?  The most obvious example of which is the existence of Israel.

This question HAS to be answered.  And after it has been answered, all plans must account for the general agreement.

What Nations Put And Take With A Nuclear Iran

Who gains and loses when Iran obtains the technology and the ability to launch nuclear weapons?  The obvious losers are the United States and Israel.  But less obvious is who gains?  Understand not only who gains but why will allow us to negate many of the perceived “advantages” of those nations.

My guess is that the current modern world is mostly stable in terms of boundaries.  Certainly there will be small and rather negligent “map changes” but by and large the shape of our nations are mostly settled.  What isn’t settled is the economic influence of our nations as they stand.

How does China benefit, if they do, by a nuclear Iran?  Hell, how does Iran benefit from a nuclear Iran?

How Do We Negotiate With A Nuclear Iran

The Soviets had them and modern Russia does.  North Korea does, as does China.  Several other nations as well.  None of them have initiated a nuclear launch.

Why?

How will Iran be prevented from the same?  What will it take, what changes will have to be made, if any at all really, to prevent the launch of an Iranian weapon?  Is it the United States, in the end, that has to be the primary negotiator in these talks?  Is the United States the primary agitator in Iran’s mind?

In the end, these are the concepts that our leaders need to address.  There is little, if any, grounds to stand on that would allow us to prevent Iran from obtaining this technology.  Further, there is little, if any, hope that we’ll be able to prevent the

The Downside To Cheap Labor

For ever we’ve heard the anti-free market crown complain that corporations exploit the workers of the world by moving production to heap labor.  Right?  We exploit the villager that has experienced bone crushing poverty for generations by providing a job that allows them to own their own house.  The first of their family EVER.

All of this in the name of profits and corporate greed.

Well guess what happens when the market begins to correct and the worm turns:

One of the things that’s showing up in Christmas stockings this year: higher prices, courtesy of China.

After decades as America’s go-to destination for low-cost consumer goods, China is undergoing a profound shift. Rapid economic development and a smaller supply of young migrant workers are pushing up labor costs. Tack on rising raw-materials prices, driven largely by Chinese demand, and a strengthening currency, and China-made goods aren’t the bargains they used to be.

Last month’s prices for Chinese imports were up 3.9% from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Wednesday, matching October’s gain, the largest year-to-year monthly rise since 2008.

Wednesday’s report showed that prices were up sharply for many kinds of goods for which China is the dominant supplier.

China accounts for about 80% of U.S. shoe imports; imported-footwear prices in November were up 6.1% from a year earlier. It accounts for about 60% of furniture imports; imported-furniture prices also were up 6.1%. About 80% of U.S. luggage imports come from China; prices in the category that includes luggage and similar goods rose 8.3% in November.

Those higher costs are one reason that U.S consumer prices have risen this year, despite the weak economy.

For all the complaining that has gone on concerning off shoring, people have been silent regarding the prices.  Maybe now, as prices begin to rise, people will begin to understand the benefits.

Protectionism

This is what happens when we impose tariffs on imported goods.  While the intent is to promote domestic business, the result is a trade war that punishes both domestic consumers as well as domestic business.  Not only does the tariff artificially raise the cost of goods for no reason, but it also forces foreign nations to impose tariffs in return:

BEIJING — China will levy anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on certain US vehicle imports, the commerce ministry said Wednesday, a move likely to fuel tensions between the world’s two biggest economies.

The tariffs will be applied for two years to passenger cars and sports utility vehicles with engine capacities of 2.5 litres or more and will take effect Thursday, the ministry said in a statement.

The decision will affect vehicles produced by General Motors, Chrysler Group, BMW Manufacturing, Mercedes-Benz US International, American Honda Motor and Ford Motor.

Hopefully both sides will step away and increase free trade; tariff free.

Gentlmen, Start Your Engines! If You Have an Engine

China has massive problems.  They are growing too fast and can’t keep infrastructure up to the increasing demands.

They have limited families to 1 child.  And next on the “restricting block?”

Cars.

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Leftists: What We Are Up Against

I have always maintained that the Leftist has an unfair advantage.  THEY get to preach the populist message while we’re left holding the bag for being responsible.

It’s the same dynamic at work that caused me to LOVE spending time with grandma and grandpa.  When i was with them, I got what I wanted.  It was ice cream and chocolate milk.  It was cookies for bedtime and cake for breakfast.  We didn’t have to go to Sunday School but we got to ride in the back of the pick up.

All fun. No responsibility.

Just like Ben and his post on China, slave labor and tariffs.

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The End of Free Market: Minimum Wage?

Recent analysis of changes to Hong Kong are getting press in the Economist.   A new law is going to be passed setting a wage floor in Hong Kong.  For years, the city has managed to grow, thrive even, without the common law known as Minimum Wage.

The legislation is set to impose a minimum wage between $3.00 and $4.00 American.  Not much by our standards, but then again, perhaps our standards are a bit exaggerated.

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The Changing Face of Labor in China

Slave wages in putrid working conditions.  That’s China.  Right?

If you think so, your opinion is shared by many American’s.  And it’s wrong.

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Chinese Labor: Entering Modern Day

For years we have heard about the horrible labor conditions of third world countries.  That people are being forced to work long hours in slave labor conditions for wages that are drastically lower than corporations can pay in America.

We never hear, of course, that these laborers voluntarily put down their farming tools and made their way to the cities to find this work.  This work, that they hope, will transform their lives from one back-breaking agricultural labor to one of living the middle class dream.

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