Tag Archives

Archive of posts published in the tag: steel

Bastiat and Trump

When Mnuchin claims that the steel and aluminum tariffs will only add a few cents to a beer can or a few dollars to an auto he displays as much ignorance as Nancy Pelosi who contends that a raise of only $20 a week is crumbs.  It is the classic broken window fallacy of Bastiat, the inability to understand and acknowledge what is unseen.

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Thoughts on the Economy 2015 10 02

Steel prices are the lowest they have been in 15 years. In China it is cheaper than cabbage. Stainless and aluminum are also very low. Oil is also bouncing around new lows. A sharp drop in industrial commodities has some

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Protectionist Hypocrisy

From The Wall Street Journal, U.S. Steel Imports Spark Wave of Trade Complaints by John Miller Excerpt: American steelmakers filed 38 trade cases last year, the highest number since 2001, when the industry won White House backing for higher tariffs

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Driving Up Costs

One of the early signs of the pending economic collapse in 2007 and 2008 was a sharp drop in truck rental rates. As a result of the severe economic downturn the domestic truck fleet shrunk about 9%.  New trucking regulations

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A Sleeping Liquidity Monster

There are a few indisputable changes in our economy. Credit is tightening. Generally this is good because  lending standards, whether to individuals to buy homes, or to real estate developers or other businesses, were way too lax.  Marginal businesses will

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