Month: June 2019

Ever since President Trump started using tariffs as a strategic weapon in restructuring our position in world trade from losing jobs, industries, and whole regions to one of strength across the board including a viable manufacturing sector, our elites discovered a brand new concern for working class Americans. Those “people of Walmart” they normally scorn are doing to be penalized by skyrocketing prices for clothes, appliances , and other consumables because of Trumps tariffs.

Economic theory is great in the abstract, using unassailable logic and fundamental principles grounded in reality. But human beings and their collectivities are complex, and often intervene in the economic sphere for reasons unrelated to the logic of economics.

Thus, the almost universal establishment criticism of President Trump’s use of tariffs to force those who exploit us with high tariff and nontariff barriers to our exports into a more reciprocal relationship. His stated goal of moving toward a world in which tariffs are not necessary is widely ignored, and his choice of tariffs as a strategic tool is castigated “protectionism” and worse.

And we’re going to suffer, because Orange Man Bad.

Except that we’re not suffering, and the data show that simple (-minded) economics predictions have proven false. Import prices have declined, not risen. Sundance at Conservative Tree House writes:

The latest set of statistics from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) shows all of the professional pundit claims of higher prices on imported goods due to Trump tariffs are simply disconnected from reality.  In actuality the year-over-year prices of import products are actually dropping:

(source)

U.S. Import prices fell 0.3 percent in May, the first monthly decline since a 1.4-percent drop in December. Import prices advanced 1.8 percent from December to April before the downturn in May. The price index for overall imports decreased 1.5 percent over the past 12 months, matching the drop in January. These were the largest over-the-year declines since the index fell 2.2 percent in August 2016. (See table 1.)

Part of the explanation for this is that China is forced to subsidize exporters in order to maintain employment. Most journalists and academics fail to understand the vulnerability of the Communist regime in China to popular unrest. There are tens of thousands of incidents a year of popular revolt against officials, news of which rarely leaves China. The sole reason that people put up with an autocratic and corrupt political-economic system is that it has delivered increasing levels of prosperity. If that prosperity falters or crashes, watch out.

A second explanation for the powered prices for imports is the lower energy prices that the US oil production boom has provided. That is a weapon that President Trump can take a bow for – by unleashing the incredible productive capacity of our energy industry once the government hobbles are removed. Our elites are insufficiently aware of the contribution it makes to our welfare and strategic strength. They think that Silicon Valley is the sole definition of American technological leadership. They’re wrong. The oil and gas industry is at least its equal.

And thus, for reasons that eluded the academics and globalist elites but which apparently Donald Trump had some grasp of, the price for his tariffs is being paid by China and oil exporting countries, not US consumers

Ever since President Trump started using tariffs as a strategic weapon in restructuring our position in world trade from losing jobs, industries, and whole regions to one of strength across the board including a viable manufacturing sector, our elites discovered a brand new concern for working class Americans. Those “people of Walmart” they normally scorn are doing to be penalized by skyrocketing prices for clothes, appliances , and other consumables because of Trumps tariffs.

Economic theory is great in the abstract, using unassailable logic and fundamental principles grounded in reality. But human beings and their collectivities are complex, and often intervene in the economic sphere for reasons unrelated to the logic of economics.

Thus, the almost universal establishment criticism of President Trump’s use of tariffs to force those who exploit us with high tariff and nontariff barriers to our exports into a more reciprocal relationship. His stated goal of moving toward a world in which tariffs are not necessary is widely ignored, and his choice of tariffs as a strategic tool is castigated “protectionism” and worse.

And we’re going to suffer, because Orange Man Bad.

Except that we’re not suffering, and the data show that simple (-minded) economics predictions have proven false. Import prices have declined, not risen. Sundance at Conservative Tree House writes:

The latest set of statistics from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) shows all of the professional pundit claims of higher prices on imported goods due to Trump tariffs are simply disconnected from reality.  In actuality the year-over-year prices of import products are actually dropping:

(source)

U.S. Import prices fell 0.3 percent in May, the first monthly decline since a 1.4-percent drop in December. Import prices advanced 1.8 percent from December to April before the downturn in May. The price index for overall imports decreased 1.5 percent over the past 12 months, matching the drop in January. These were the largest over-the-year declines since the index fell 2.2 percent in August 2016. (See table 1.)

Part of the explanation for this is that China is forced to subsidize exporters in order to maintain employment. Most journalists and academics fail to understand the vulnerability of the Communist regime in China to popular unrest. There are tens of thousands of incidents a year of popular revolt against officials, news of which rarely leaves China. The sole reason that people put up with an autocratic and corrupt political-economic system is that it has delivered increasing levels of prosperity. If that prosperity falters or crashes, watch out.

A second explanation for the powered prices for imports is the lower energy prices that the US oil production boom has provided. That is a weapon that President Trump can take a bow for – by unleashing the incredible productive capacity of our energy industry once the government hobbles are removed. Our elites are insufficiently aware of the contribution it makes to our welfare and strategic strength. They think that Silicon Valley is the sole definition of American technological leadership. They’re wrong. The oil and gas industry is at least its equal.

And thus, for reasons that eluded the academics and globalist elites but which apparently Donald Trump had some grasp of, the price for his tariffs is being paid by China and oil exporting countries, not US consumers

Is there nothing the left won’t blame on Trump?

Lefty activist Walid Shaheed passed through a routine border checkpoint slightly inland from the actual border and panicked, concluding the first thing that came to his mind: That Trump turned America Nazi.

Bzzzzt! No. Turns out the border checkpoints have been in place for decades, a relic of a time when both right and left held the mainstream view that America needed borders.

The Right Scoop reports how it all went, spotting this tweet:

 

I just spent some time in South Texas. Our car was stopped a few times at checkpoints where border patrol  asked whether or not we were US citizens.

People say it’s now a normalized part of life that makes many immigrants afraid of things like picking their kids up from school.

— Waleed Shahid (@_waleedshahid) June 15, 2019

 

After that came the inevitable smackdown. This one was sweeter than most because assorted other lefties hastened to calm the leftist down, explaining that those border checkpoints predated Trump, and the Supreme Court upheld the Border Patrol’s right to have the checkpoints and ask brief questions of travelers suspected of smuggling, back in 1976. Meanwhile, the checkpoints as they stand have been allowed since 1953.

Anyone who drives from San Diego to Los Angeles knows about the border checkpoint on Highway 5, out in the Pendleton badlands just before hitting San Clemente. Every little kid from San Diego knows about it because it’s on the highway to Disneyland. My family used to make fun of it, actually, getting waved through and then always joking: ‘Time to take off our wigs and let the dozen people we are smuggling back up from under the seat cushions, (snicker), we got away with it.’

The checkpoint was put into place decades ago, and probably wasn’t all that effective, given that human and other kinds of smugglers knew about them and most would presumably know enough to go around them. Need proof of that? Well, it’s the very area where the famous CalTrans cautionary illegal immigrant signs used to be, too, placed much later based on people sneaking around to avoid that checkpoint until too many Americans started making fun of it.

Bottom line: The lefty is so out of touch he’s not even aware of the U.S. being in a border crisis since at least 1986, or earlier, actually, with illegal crossers and smugglers forcing the adaptation of border checkpoints, which, yes, kind of inconvenience everyone. I always wondered why they placed it above San Diego, as if San Diego wasn’t entitled to some kind of protection, too. Well, according to one of the lefties cited by the Right Scoop, the idea was that the closer border area allows far more cross border traffic as locals on both sides of the border regularly go in and out. The Supreme Court decided years ago that the inland checkpoints beyond them were acceptable and this was how it was going to be.

And now the lefty’s getting owned, as the Right Scoop shows, even by the more informed lefties.

Incredibly, it’s not the first time a lefty has fallen into this trap and presumed that Trump has turned the border into a Nazi zone. Vox of all places had to correct the lefties about this last year, explaining that yes, the border checkpoints were put into place decades ago, back when there was a consensus about having borders. Even last year, there must have been many lefties panicking.

Maybe lefties ought to get out around the country more. Maybe they can see what’s going on and ask some serious questions instead of jump to their panicked conclusions. A teachable moment, as they like to say.

Is there nothing the left won’t blame on Trump?

Lefty activist Walid Shaheed passed through a routine border checkpoint slightly inland from the actual border and panicked, concluding the first thing that came to his mind: That Trump turned America Nazi.

Bzzzzt! No. Turns out the border checkpoints have been in place for decades, a relic of a time when both right and left held the mainstream view that America needed borders.

The Right Scoop reports how it all went, spotting this tweet:

 

I just spent some time in South Texas. Our car was stopped a few times at checkpoints where border patrol  asked whether or not we were US citizens.

People say it’s now a normalized part of life that makes many immigrants afraid of things like picking their kids up from school.

— Waleed Shahid (@_waleedshahid) June 15, 2019

 

After that came the inevitable smackdown. This one was sweeter than most because assorted other lefties hastened to calm the leftist down, explaining that those border checkpoints predated Trump, and the Supreme Court upheld the Border Patrol’s right to have the checkpoints and ask brief questions of travelers suspected of smuggling, back in 1976. Meanwhile, the checkpoints as they stand have been allowed since 1953.

Anyone who drives from San Diego to Los Angeles knows about the border checkpoint on Highway 5, out in the Pendleton badlands just before hitting San Clemente. Every little kid from San Diego knows about it because it’s on the highway to Disneyland. My family used to make fun of it, actually, getting waved through and then always joking: ‘Time to take off our wigs and let the dozen people we are smuggling back up from under the seat cushions, (snicker), we got away with it.’

The checkpoint was put into place decades ago, and probably wasn’t all that effective, given that human and other kinds of smugglers knew about them and most would presumably know enough to go around them. Need proof of that? Well, it’s the very area where the famous CalTrans cautionary illegal immigrant signs used to be, too, placed much later based on people sneaking around to avoid that checkpoint until too many Americans started making fun of it.

Bottom line: The lefty is so out of touch he’s not even aware of the U.S. being in a border crisis since at least 1986, or earlier, actually, with illegal crossers and smugglers forcing the adaptation of border checkpoints, which, yes, kind of inconvenience everyone. I always wondered why they placed it above San Diego, as if San Diego wasn’t entitled to some kind of protection, too. Well, according to one of the lefties cited by the Right Scoop, the idea was that the closer border area allows far more cross border traffic as locals on both sides of the border regularly go in and out. The Supreme Court decided years ago that the inland checkpoints beyond them were acceptable and this was how it was going to be.

And now the lefty’s getting owned, as the Right Scoop shows, even by the more informed lefties.

Incredibly, it’s not the first time a lefty has fallen into this trap and presumed that Trump has turned the border into a Nazi zone. Vox of all places had to correct the lefties about this last year, explaining that yes, the border checkpoints were put into place decades ago, back when there was a consensus about having borders. Even last year, there must have been many lefties panicking.

Maybe lefties ought to get out around the country more. Maybe they can see what’s going on and ask some serious questions instead of jump to their panicked conclusions. A teachable moment, as they like to say.