Chinese newspaper claims the US "tricked" TSMC into building Arizona fabs, is stealing...

[waclark]

Biden is respecting the policies of the previous "administration". Take the withdrawal from Afghanistan for example. Look how well that went. Trump set that for date certain.

As for the tariffs. The American consumer is so ungodly stupid, they think China is paying them. OTOH, the tariffs place the prices of Chinese goods closer to that of good old made in the USA stuff. Isn't that what everybody wants? They're just not willing to pay for it.

At then end of the day, it goes like this, "you can't have your cake and eat you video card too".

Well, getting off-topic a bit, but while Trump set a date for withdrawal, it also included certain conditions which the Taliban repeatedly did not follow. Biden claiming he was bound by Trump's decision is pure political theater. That didn't stop Biden from signing executive orders on his second day in office reversing several of Trump's decisions. Biden f'd up the withdrawal at the cost of 13 American lives. That is certain.

As for US consumers, yep, we want cheap and we are are delusional to think you can get that made in America. However, that doesn't mean there aren't better places than China to get cheap made goods. Honestly, I don't know why we aren't putting the efforts into building out manufacturing in Mexico as we can get inexpensive labor and they are much closer to us (in other words, shipping cost would be much less). And, with better paying jobs, maybe a lot of people would prefer to stay in Mexico where they could have better lives.

 

[emmzo]

Well, getting off-topic a bit, but while Trump set a date for withdrawal, it also included certain conditions which the Taliban repeatedly did not follow. Biden claiming he was bound by Trump's decision is pure political theater. That didn't stop Biden from signing executive orders on his second day in office reversing several of Trump's decisions. Biden f'd up the withdrawal at the cost of 13 American lives. That is certain.

As for US consumers, yep, we want cheap and we are are delusional to think you can get that made in America. However, that doesn't mean there aren't better places than China to get cheap made goods. Honestly, I don't know why we aren't putting the efforts into building out manufacturing in Mexico as we can get inexpensive labor and they are much closer to us (in other words, shipping cost would be much less). And, with better paying jobs, maybe a lot of people would prefer to stay in Mexico where they could have better lives.

Better paying jobs for Mexicans? Dream on! They need to keep it China level cheap. Why would the Mexicans work for US for pennies in their country, when they can just come to US, albeit risky, but work for ten times as much? I`m sorry for you, but the Mexicans will keep coming even if you build the Great Chinese wall. People don`t want a better life, they want the best life if it`s within their reach.
Also, did Biden fcked up the withdrawal or the Defense Department? I don`t think he`s in charge of logistics. Although, I guess is fair, if it happened to Trump, everybody would have blamed him as well.

 

[gamerk2]

I agree 1000%. Tax incentives have, as I understand it, favored those companies that want to move production someplace other than the US. IMO, that is an extremely bad policy.

I mean, the primary theory that lower prices would keep inflation down and remove the need for large wage increases worked as it was intended; the economy was pretty damn stable from '83 through late '07, with only minor recessions in '91-'92 and and '99-'00.

But the downsides were many: Concentration of wealth in a few individuals/corporations (which in turn has only farther reduced competition in many markets), a loss of a manufacturing base (which the DoD is noting as a significant issue now that it's largely blown through it's excess stockpiles of goods), and most tellingly: the first generation in American history poorer then the one that came before. And it's clear that things are deteriorating as time goes on.

That being said, protectionism isn't that answer. That road leads to less competition overall (always bad) and more expensive goods at home, which forces higher wages and thus inflation. I get the sense we're going to be in for a *very* bad decade or two until things get sorted, but we desperately need investment at home to start growing our industries again. The IRA is a good first step, but much more needs to be done going forward.