Kudos and thanks to @JaredB for this post, chock full of good tidbits.
Big YES from the field on impact of tariffs on small biz’s. I work with a variety of small biz, and many in situations similar to those described in The Daily piece. Nearly all with SBA loans put up houses as collateral. Not all may be as tough as Beth Benike, who sounds like she’ll go O-US to solve her problem. Whew.
Also thought the manufacturing graph was just awesome!
Re the price inflation point in the last footnote. It still amazes me that it was impossible to get lower-income working folks to appreciate that their incomes went up by more than prices. They're almost certainly going to pay for that discontent dearly now as the job market craters and inflation soars.
As an occasional social scientist I'm not hopeful that anything we can (practically and politically) do will make a major impact on individuals who will inevitably lose their jobs from either a trade war OR from open trade. That would require them to retool. I just don't see many 40 yo factory workers being willing or able to spend four years getting a RN or IT degree. The jobs that they could do without retooling are all low pay positions in the service and construction areas. The latter really illustrates one part of the problem. In the '50s through the '70s these were well paying union jobs. Now they are dominated by immigrant workers who are willing to work for much lower wages. Deporting some would open up positions but they would still not be "great jobs" and it would be a socially difficult transition.
" …spurring domestic [production] isn’t only possible; it’s already happening, supported by tax credits, subsidized loans and grants from the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Factory construction more than doubled from 2019 to 2024 after adjusting for inflation."
The good news will be shamelessly misappropriated by the current administration and its own failures will be even more shamelessly blamed on the previous administration. Democracy cannot exist without a discriminating and discerning citizenry, and we are awfully close to losing a majority of such citizens.
Is the loss of low-wage jobs due to having a trade deficit? That is, wouldn't the same job loss have occurred with a zero trade deficit, due to comparative advantage?
Kudos and thanks to @JaredB for this post, chock full of good tidbits.
Big YES from the field on impact of tariffs on small biz’s. I work with a variety of small biz, and many in situations similar to those described in The Daily piece. Nearly all with SBA loans put up houses as collateral. Not all may be as tough as Beth Benike, who sounds like she’ll go O-US to solve her problem. Whew.
Also thought the manufacturing graph was just awesome!
Re the price inflation point in the last footnote. It still amazes me that it was impossible to get lower-income working folks to appreciate that their incomes went up by more than prices. They're almost certainly going to pay for that discontent dearly now as the job market craters and inflation soars.
How are we to get the masses to understand how misguided and dangerous Trump is if the shit doesn’t hit the fan?
As an occasional social scientist I'm not hopeful that anything we can (practically and politically) do will make a major impact on individuals who will inevitably lose their jobs from either a trade war OR from open trade. That would require them to retool. I just don't see many 40 yo factory workers being willing or able to spend four years getting a RN or IT degree. The jobs that they could do without retooling are all low pay positions in the service and construction areas. The latter really illustrates one part of the problem. In the '50s through the '70s these were well paying union jobs. Now they are dominated by immigrant workers who are willing to work for much lower wages. Deporting some would open up positions but they would still not be "great jobs" and it would be a socially difficult transition.
Equivocation will kill Dem hopes of defeating MAGAts. Sorry, Jared, this is equivocation.
" …spurring domestic [production] isn’t only possible; it’s already happening, supported by tax credits, subsidized loans and grants from the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Factory construction more than doubled from 2019 to 2024 after adjusting for inflation."
The good news will be shamelessly misappropriated by the current administration and its own failures will be even more shamelessly blamed on the previous administration. Democracy cannot exist without a discriminating and discerning citizenry, and we are awfully close to losing a majority of such citizens.
The amputee economists, “On one hand …”
Is the loss of low-wage jobs due to having a trade deficit? That is, wouldn't the same job loss have occurred with a zero trade deficit, due to comparative advantage?