Post tariff world

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SteveBorland said:
But are people willing to pay the price for US made tools?
Last time I was in the US, it was really hard to find non Chinese goods in Sears for example.
Was in a Walmart once, exactly the same experience
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Yes. After gathering enough scrap tools in the toolbox to make it difficult to find the one that works wasting all that time and space I do. Not necessarily US made, but quality. And now I have room for the beer fridge
 
SteveBorland said:
But are people willing to pay the price for US made tools?
Last time I was in the US, it was really hard to find non Chinese goods in Sears for example.
Was in a Walmart once, exactly the same experience
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Was true - now no Sears and Walmart in most towns and carry nothing but Chinese.
 
HouTexNorton said:
The US doesn't need to be manufacturing a lot of unnecessary goods with low paying jobs.
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Yeah, maybe it's a good thing that we're paying off college loans for them instead, so they can concentrate on solving the crisis of shortages of hand-curated soy lattes with virgin whole milk freshly squirted from free-range cows, and hand-stirred with twigs fallen naturally from wild trees, and picked up by hand by other lesser-degreed college grads.
 
grandpaul said:
Yeah, maybe it's a good thing that we're paying off college loans for them instead, so they can concentrate on solving the crisis of shortages of hand-curated soy lattes with virgin whole milk freshly squirted from free-range cows.
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Sounding a wee bit grumpy there GP :-)
 
concours said:
"The US doesn't need to be manufacturing a lot of unnecessary goods with low paying jobs."


Define those please.
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Poor choice of words. We have very low unemployment, so why create more jobs that are low paying such as the repetitive low-skilled labor for the manufacture of apparel, toys, dry goods, electronics, etc. We can't possibly compete with the slave labor wages paid in China and elsewhere in the Far East and it's a pipe dream to think the American people will pay a lot more for these items just to buy American. Continue to dominate with service sector and skilled labor jobs that pay much more and expand in those industries with proper training to lift people up.
 
HouTexNorton said:
Poor choice of words. We have very low unemployment, so why create more jobs that are low paying such as the repetitive low-skilled labor for the manufacture of apparel, toys, dry goods, electronics, etc. We can't possibly compete with the slave labor wages paid in China and elsewhere in the Far East and it's a pipe dream to think the American people will pay a lot more for these items just to buy American. Continue to dominate with service sector and skilled labor jobs that pay much more and expand in those industries with proper training to lift people up.
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We have to start SOMEWHERE, and it looks like it's going to be ALL OVER THE MAP. There are industries and resources in ALL 50 states, and by golly, they're going to get cranking up, one way or another.

One of the problems with the whole "lower paying" scenario is that here in the 'States, we've babied WAY too many generations with government handouts, so people that don't WANT to work, usually don't HAVE to work if they're getting "assistance" (813 varieties and forms)

Those days will some be only a horrible memory. The ship of State will be righted and headed onward once again.
 
Regardless of where political beliefs lie and who’s side you’re on I am astounded ( and probably shouldn’t be considering the source ) that an adult and leader of arguably the most powerful nation on earth continues to insult and belittle other leaders , including our neighbors .
Come on Mr President - nothing to be gained by acting that way .
Sometimes I think we are back in kindergarten…
 
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worntorn said:
Canadians and Brits also tend to look at the Western Front as being WW2, as that was where we fought.
In fact 80 percent of all WW2 Combat was on the Eastern front with the Soviets.
Its fair to say it took everything all the Allies had to stop Germany, but without the Soviet manufacturing and Military things would probably have gone the other way for all of us.

Glen
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I agree, but last i knew everything east of the Urals was considered Europe. (I love argueing semantics 😁) Yes its true the soviets were integral to victory, but their biggest contribution was the 8 1/2 million solders Stalin was willing to sacrifice. I've read several of Churchills wartime books and a 3 volume biography of him. Stalin was quite pissed that the Western allies refused to open a second front untill there was a reasonable chance of victory. The only way that happened was by industrial might. The only thing that placated Stalin was more and more US arms shipments, which he was never charged for by the way. Quite unlike the poor Brits who had to suffer with lend lease. Some things never change I guess.
 
grandpaul said:
One of the problems with the whole "lower paying" scenario is that here in the 'States, we've babied WAY too many generations with government handouts, so people that don't WANT to work, usually don't HAVE to work if they're getting "assistance" (813 varieties and forms)
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Government assistance without the requirement to actively seek employment is a whole different topic. And don't get me started on the government forgiving student loans because the degrees earned were worthless, even though contracts were signed for the debt.
 
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There are obviously forces at play which many people do not recognise. Australia has a representative in the International Standards Organisation. In about 1998, our representative introduced a move to create an ISO9000 type International Certification Standard for industrial safety systems. The American industrial lobby groups through the American National Standards Insitute sent 40 delegates to oppose it. However it now exists, and I do not know how that happened. In 2018, 38000 Chinese workers died in industrial incidents. That is what workers in other countries compete with. Industrial safety underpins industrial democracy (unions). When International Standards are called-up in Free Trade Agreements, they are enforceable. However in Australia, the contents of Free Trade Agreements are kept secret.
 
HouTexNorton said:
Government assistance without the requirement to actively seek employment is a whole different topic. And don't get me started on the government paying off student loans because the degrees earned were worthless, even though contracts were signed for the debt.
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Universities in Australia make a distinction between vocational training and educating 'problem solvers'. A lot of things are about self-perception and what side of the fence you are on. Smart people play on both sides of the fence. A university degree is worth nothing without experience. Our best engineers are Tradies who have done further studies to become professionally qualified. I have only ever met two who have done that.
 
When I started working full time at age 17 it was in a factory that made water fountains. Shit wages and poor working conditions. What i did get out of it was a sense of redponsibility, knowing that I had to get up every morning and go to work so I could actually pay for that shiney black Honda CB160. stayed long enough to know I could do better and set about doing it. Until and unless a person learns that about the only path to sucess is blind luck, crime, or election to public office. Or just be a drug addict.
 
Richard Tool said:
Regardless of where political beliefs lie and who’s side you’re on I am astounded ( and probably shouldn’t be considering the source ) that an adult and leader of arguably the most powerful nation on earth continues to insult and belittle other leaders , including our neighbors .
Come on Mr President - nothing to be gained by acting that way .
Sometimes I think we are back in kindergarten…
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Maybe his balderdash is orchestrated to shock financial markets into buy/sell frenzy for the sly opportunists
 
BERT said:
Maybe his balderdash is orchestrated to shock financial markets into buy/sell frenzy for the sly opportunists
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Sly? He tweeted "now is a good time to buy" then 4hrs later suspended tariffs.
It's called market manipulation and it's illegal.
The stock market is a joke if it can be so easily swayed by the whims of one individual.
 
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MikeG said:
When I started working full time at age 17 it was in a factory that made water fountains. Shit wages and poor working conditions. What i did get out of it was a sense of redponsibility, knowing that I had to get up every morning and go to work so I could actually pay for that shiney black Honda CB160. stayed long enough to know I could do better and set about doing it. Until and unless a person learns that about the only path to sucess is blind luck, crime, or election to public office. Or just be a drug addict.
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When I left high school after failing half of my Matriculation exams because of motorcycles, I took a year away from study and got a job as a customs officer and immediately enrolled in a senior technical college to study applied chemistry. After ten years, I had a wife, two kids, an old house with a mortgage and my first diploma. My education was pay as you go, and my jobs involved doing what I was studying. I always applied for jobs which suited my interests, and often where there was a training component. My first job after qualifying was running a laboratory in an aircraft factory - which is almost motorcycles.
 
When Bob Hawke began introducing neoliberalism into Australia, I bought a copy of Hayek's 'The Constitution Of Liberty' and read it. There was not a copy in any library in Australia. University professors are school teachers - very few have ever had real jobs, so many things are based upon speculation and supposition. When I read Hayek's book what it means to me is probably very different to what it means to an inexperienced person. I suggest what we are experiencing now is the natural extension of Friedman and Hayek's ideas - extreme neoliberalism. We are learning the difference between 'want' and 'need'.
 
MikeG said:
I agree, but last i knew everything east of the Urals was considered Europe. (I love argueing semantics 😁) Yes its true the soviets were integral to victory, but their biggest contribution was the 8 1/2 million solders Stalin was willing to sacrifice. I've read several of Churchills wartime books and a 3 volume biography of him. Stalin was quite pissed that the Western allies refused to open a second front untill there was a reasonable chance of victory. The only way that happened was by industrial might. The only thing that placated Stalin was more and more US arms shipments, which he was never charged for by the way. Quite unlike the poor Brits who had to suffer with lend lease. Some things never change I guess.
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The Soviets were quite amazing in that as the Germans were slowly advancing, the Soviets dismantled entire factories and moved them by rail over the Ural Mountains, then reassembled them and went to work.
They took the rail lines up as they went so that the German armies could not use them.
I have read that their own WW2 military production , while being invaded, was quite incredible.
Here are the numbers, according to Wikipedia-

Screenshot_20250409_163321_Google.jpg
 
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