Economics Thread
- Thread starter sturg33
- Start date
I’d need to see that world first but I’ve traditionally been a low taxation person.
It’s been a long time since we’ve seen capitalism. Its all end stage which is just a series of monopolies that push the middle class out of financial independence and pushed into lives of meager salaries.
Some of us are fortunate to have mathematical brains and the ability to learn things quickly.
striker42
Well-known member
Went to a Westin last year, checked in and out on my phone, used my phone as a door key, never spoke to any hotel employee. Great stay.
sturg33
I
The government is 100% trying to get as many people out of work as possible.
Crush small businesses.
Impose their will through big corps so they can keep their hands clean.
And all the people without a job will beg for the crumbs via stimulus checks to survive
nsacpi
Expects Yuge Games
uh marriott been using those for a few years now
acesfull86
Well-known member
https://reason.com/2021/04/22/covid-19-industrial-policy-fails-again/
It's a good thing Americans don't have to wait for the federal government's hand-picked suppliers of vaccines and syringes to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Those operations are not going well.
First, let's check in with ApiJect Systems Corp, a Connecticut-based medical supply company that got a $138 million government contract last year to develop a newfangled syringe that would be pre-filled with COVID-19 vaccine. You might think that's a lot of money simply to save the few seconds it takes to fill a syringe with vaccine—but the real goal of the contract was to reduce America's supposedly debilitating (and vastly overstated) reliance on medical equipment made in other countries.
The project will "help significantly decrease the United States' dependence on offshore supply chains and its reliance on older technologies with much longer production lead times," a Pentagon spokesman told NBC when the contract was announced last May. Why trade with other countries when we can make better syringes here in America, and do it faster too?
That is exactly what the proponents of industrial policy keep saying. So how is it working out?
Not great. More than 215 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to Americans, but not a single one has been delivered via the fancy new syringes that ApiJect Systems is getting paid to produce. In fact, NBC reported on Wednesday that ApiJect has yet to produce a single syringe.
It gets worse. As part of an overall package of government contracts and federal loans that NBC says totaled $1.3 billion (ApiJect says the figure is lower), the company was supposed to build a manufacturing facility that would not only meet the COVID-19 pandemic head-on but would eventually provide syringes prefilled with other vaccines too. A spokesman for the industrial park in North Carolina where the facility was supposed to be built tells NBC that there's no factory there.
........
Speaking of which, how are things going at Emergent BioSolutions, the federal government's hand-picked manufacturer of American-made vaccines?
Oh, boy. "Federal regulators have found serious flaws at the Baltimore plant that had to throw out up to 15 million possibly contaminated doses of Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine," The New York Times reports. "Production is now on pause in the United States, and all vaccines manufactured at the plant have been quarantined."
Unlike ApiJect, which received government funds during last year's rush to throw as much money at possible pandemic-ending ideas, Emergent Biosolutions has been on the federal dole since 2012 for the express purpose of domestic vaccine production in the event of a viral outbreak. That it has so far been unable to produce a single usable dose of vaccine is a damning illustration of the failure of industrial policy. This is the ultimate "you had one job" situation.
—————
Stunned!
It's a good thing Americans don't have to wait for the federal government's hand-picked suppliers of vaccines and syringes to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Those operations are not going well.
First, let's check in with ApiJect Systems Corp, a Connecticut-based medical supply company that got a $138 million government contract last year to develop a newfangled syringe that would be pre-filled with COVID-19 vaccine. You might think that's a lot of money simply to save the few seconds it takes to fill a syringe with vaccine—but the real goal of the contract was to reduce America's supposedly debilitating (and vastly overstated) reliance on medical equipment made in other countries.
The project will "help significantly decrease the United States' dependence on offshore supply chains and its reliance on older technologies with much longer production lead times," a Pentagon spokesman told NBC when the contract was announced last May. Why trade with other countries when we can make better syringes here in America, and do it faster too?
That is exactly what the proponents of industrial policy keep saying. So how is it working out?
Not great. More than 215 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been administered to Americans, but not a single one has been delivered via the fancy new syringes that ApiJect Systems is getting paid to produce. In fact, NBC reported on Wednesday that ApiJect has yet to produce a single syringe.
It gets worse. As part of an overall package of government contracts and federal loans that NBC says totaled $1.3 billion (ApiJect says the figure is lower), the company was supposed to build a manufacturing facility that would not only meet the COVID-19 pandemic head-on but would eventually provide syringes prefilled with other vaccines too. A spokesman for the industrial park in North Carolina where the facility was supposed to be built tells NBC that there's no factory there.
........
Speaking of which, how are things going at Emergent BioSolutions, the federal government's hand-picked manufacturer of American-made vaccines?
Oh, boy. "Federal regulators have found serious flaws at the Baltimore plant that had to throw out up to 15 million possibly contaminated doses of Johnson & Johnson's coronavirus vaccine," The New York Times reports. "Production is now on pause in the United States, and all vaccines manufactured at the plant have been quarantined."
Unlike ApiJect, which received government funds during last year's rush to throw as much money at possible pandemic-ending ideas, Emergent Biosolutions has been on the federal dole since 2012 for the express purpose of domestic vaccine production in the event of a viral outbreak. That it has so far been unable to produce a single usable dose of vaccine is a damning illustration of the failure of industrial policy. This is the ultimate "you had one job" situation.
—————
Stunned!
Jaw
It's OVER 5,000!
That's painful. The ApiJect people should have some assets seized, right before they're sent to jail.
Metaphysicist
Not Actually Brian Hunter
lol it's basically a Kurt Russell movie up in here someone save us
acesfull86
Well-known member
” There is simply no reason why the blades for wind turbines can’t be built in Pittsburgh instead of Beijing. No reason. None. No reason.” - Joe Biden
————
I can give you a couple, Joe
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I can give you a couple, Joe
57Brave
Well-known member
acesfull86
Well-known member
acesfull86
Well-known member
https://reason.com/2021/05/07/more-than-300-manufacturers-just-asked-biden-to-repeal-trumps-steel-tariffs-as-prices-skyrocket/
Steel prices are surging and American manufacturing is paying the price—literally, thanks in part to the ongoing consequences of former President Donald Trump's tariffs, which President Joe Biden has not removed.
On Thursday, more than 300 manufacturing businesses sent a letter to the White House urging Biden to repeal Trump's tariffs, which the signatories say have contributed to supply shortages, long lead times, and artificially high prices for key inputs made of steel and aluminum.
"It is businesses manufacturing in America such as ours who pay the tariffs on imports, and it is our businesses and employees who suffer when our product cannot compete with overseas manufacturers because the U.S. is an island of high steel and aluminum prices," reads the letter, in part. The manufacturers say that they are forced to pay prices as much as 40 percent higher for some steel products than overseas competitors, an "unsustainable situation for any U.S. employer."
According to SteelBenchmarker, an industry publication, one metric tonne of American-made hot-rolled band steel is now priced at over $1,500. That's nearly three times more expensive than it was at this same time last year.
.......
American-made steel closely tracked global prices until mid-2018, when Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on imports of foreign steel into America. Since then, American-made steel has diverged significantly from global prices.
For American manufacturers that require raw steel inputs to make anything from cars to kitchen appliances, that's a problem. Buying foreign steel meaning saving some money, but then owing a 25 percent tax to the federal government—because tariffs are really just taxes.
The goal of Trump's tariffs was to increase the competitiveness of American-made steel relative to the rest of the world, but that does not appear to have happened. Instead, American steelmakers have simply been able to raise prices even faster because they are protected from competition.
Steel prices are surging and American manufacturing is paying the price—literally, thanks in part to the ongoing consequences of former President Donald Trump's tariffs, which President Joe Biden has not removed.
On Thursday, more than 300 manufacturing businesses sent a letter to the White House urging Biden to repeal Trump's tariffs, which the signatories say have contributed to supply shortages, long lead times, and artificially high prices for key inputs made of steel and aluminum.
"It is businesses manufacturing in America such as ours who pay the tariffs on imports, and it is our businesses and employees who suffer when our product cannot compete with overseas manufacturers because the U.S. is an island of high steel and aluminum prices," reads the letter, in part. The manufacturers say that they are forced to pay prices as much as 40 percent higher for some steel products than overseas competitors, an "unsustainable situation for any U.S. employer."
According to SteelBenchmarker, an industry publication, one metric tonne of American-made hot-rolled band steel is now priced at over $1,500. That's nearly three times more expensive than it was at this same time last year.
.......
American-made steel closely tracked global prices until mid-2018, when Trump imposed 25 percent tariffs on imports of foreign steel into America. Since then, American-made steel has diverged significantly from global prices.
For American manufacturers that require raw steel inputs to make anything from cars to kitchen appliances, that's a problem. Buying foreign steel meaning saving some money, but then owing a 25 percent tax to the federal government—because tariffs are really just taxes.
The goal of Trump's tariffs was to increase the competitiveness of American-made steel relative to the rest of the world, but that does not appear to have happened. Instead, American steelmakers have simply been able to raise prices even faster because they are protected from competition.
Excellent. More costs of production staying within the US.
More jobs. More stable families. What a country should strive for.
acesfull86
Well-known member
Where are you getting “more jobs?”
How does the additional steel that is being purchased from US firms get produced and delivered?
acesfull86
Well-known member
That’s great as long as those doing the purchasing are still in business. There are two sides to the equation.
The demand for macro growth will remained unchanged. The same amount of building/production will be required. Costs will go down the chain. Ive never said otherwise. By the time it gets to the consumer the costs aren’t very noticeable. While the big number describing cumulative extra costs to consumers is accurate it is misleading because it’s just the denominator.
But again, these efficiencies you think exist aren’t resulting from fair markets. I’m confused why you have such a blind eye to it when you discuss your beliefs on economics.