Agreed. What's most surprising to me is how the general solution for "The other kids in the neighborhood aren't playing fair, so I'm taking the bat and ball and bases home with me, 'cause that'll make them wanna play with me more" mentality continues to this day. What, I wonder, allows for our leadership to continually apply such a small-minded solution to such a complex situation? Essentially we're pitching a fit and jacking up the game for all involved. That, and those that have the fewest resources to weather a recession will feel the turbulence the most. Sucks.
Eyes on the prize: tariffs aren't a "general solution", they're what Mr. Alligator Moat wanted. The Econ 101 read on tariffs is "universally bad idea". Much like concentration camps for immigrants and an ineffectual wall for border security. I mean, ignorance. When you don't understand why the complex solution isn't working, and you aren't smart enough to be educated as to why the simple solution won't work either, you stumble into the simple solution. And hey - North Korea's manufacturing is robust. They have a captive market. The Duterte approach to the drug war works when viewed through a properly narrow perspective. The externalities and legitimate crimes against humanity are only an issue if you care about humanity. This recession isn't a truly American one, though. Germany is leading the curve, probably due in no small part to Dieselgate but also due to the fact that the Chinese aren't buying as many cars. Large swaths of Europe are sensitive, as johan pointed out: The global economy is so interconnected these days that you can almost predict what the Dow will look like based on watching the DAX the night before. The thing about tariffs is they generally punish the receiver. Perpetually true.What's most surprising to me is how the general solution for "The other kids in the neighborhood aren't playing fair, so I'm taking the bat and ball and bases home with me, 'cause that'll make them wanna play with me more" mentality continues to this day.
What, I wonder, allows for our leadership to continually apply such a small-minded solution to such a complex situation?
Essentially we're pitching a fit and jacking up the game for all involved.
That, and those that have the fewest resources to weather a recession will feel the turbulence the most.
Trump agriculture chief: No guarantee small farms can survive: Doesn't sound good. Maybe he can explain why they're giving the finger to (presumably) some of Trump's own base? “They toyed us into being more dependent on their markets than them on us. That’s what the problem has been,” he said. “They can’t expect to come into our country freely and fairly without opening up their markets.” "Yeah! The Chinese baited us into the tariffs!!!!" ... Yikes, Trump admin, just listen to yourselves :(.What, I wonder, allows for our leadership to continually apply such a small-minded solution to such a complex situation?
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said Tuesday in Wisconsin that he’s unsure if small family dairy farms can survive as larger institutions continue to boom.
Perdue defended the White House’s strategy, calling the Chinese “cheaters.”
My wife's cousin's dairy farm went under in 2018. She had 110 head on 160 leased acres. They were $11m in debt. They employed everyone in the family and two or three others. All the cattle went to the butcher. They turned the hearts into bratwurst. It was disgusting.“It’s very difficult on an economy of scale with the capital needs and all the environmental regulations and everything else today to survive milking 40, 50, or 60 or even 100 cows,” he said.