Doesn’t Matter Who Wins the K Race; We’re All the Same

[sebastian_dangerfield]

I suggest you ask the people who make those loans if they thought that before the GOP gutted it.

They're just greedy. Any regulation is too much regulation. And when you have the White House, you can't let the opportunity to stack the deck as much in your favor as possible lapse.

Sure, if you think the people buying cheap products from China aren't getting any benefit. Paying less for stuff is, indeed, an economic benefit.

"Sorry you've been rendered obsolete and will only earn 1/2 to 2/3 of what you did before (and work like a dog for it). But look on the bright side. Your appliances and video game consoles are 20% cheaper!

...Sorry. Good food's still expensive. But then, you can always eat the processed crap. It'll give you high blood pressure or cancer, which will free you from this merry-go-round sooner."

Except no one made that choice. Nearly everyone making policy believed there was no direct trade off, because every trade deal and all available evidence said there wasn't one.

Then China joined the WTO and we learned that if there's a big enough change in trade terms, you can't get the effects that you're focused on. But the thing is that was a one time event (and appears to be over) and not nearly as big of scale as you want to make it out to be.

What have people done to address this policy error? Nothing serious. The unspoken reality we all know is: Globalization and automation are inevitable, and they're going to savage a majority of workers in developed nations first, then less developed nation later. Labor is an endangered species -- a cost sought to be eliminated by all means available.

Now sing me a song about how new jobs will be created in amounts and at pay far in excess of the old jobs. I need some of that Classic Adder Econ 101 Bullshit.

The Dems could be advocating for a lot more help. Some of them are. That is very much a point of the Green New Deal. It's the other side that's for doing nothing.

A New New Deal of which the Green New Deal (modified to remove AOC's insane mandates) is a small component, is needed. The Green New Deal alone is a joke.

You don't even try to not sound like you're full of shit.

Builders don't use "Chinese steel" as a pejorative for no reason. I recently had an HVAC unit replaced for one zone. I wanted to buy the big one, but was advised against it on the grounds, "It's all Chinese shit that'll break in ten years... don't waste the money." The unit in the other zone, made by Trane, with non-Chinese parts: 27 years old and still running. We just bought new clothes washers and dryers. People at Home Depot said the same thing. "Chinese shit." A very close friend and a family member are interior designers. Ask them about new furnishings made in China. You guessed it: "Chinese shit." Ask your mechanic. "Shit."

They make a lot of things well. But they make just many awfully, cheaply, and it's almost impossible not to conclude, designed to break, blow up, or otherwise require replacement within a short period of time.

Strangely, however, they seem to make clothes really well. I have a couple sportcoats made there, and they are really well stitched.