Do you believe that Trump has an ACTUAL plan?

[BeyondET]

No, it won't. Consider the following example: Lets say we buy most of our widgets from Elbonia because they can make widgets more cheaply than we can. If we put a tariff on widgets they will become more expensive to us. The higher price justifies capital investment in domestic widget factories. All perfectly resonable economics. The increase in widget prices produces the increase in return on capital invested in US widget factories. The result is that widget manufacturing returns to the US, which was the goal. But widget prices will stay high and worker's wages won't necessarily increase.

There is also a follow on effect: Our national debt is at least partially financed by foreign counties with dollars gained from trade imbalance. In this scenario, Elbonia will have fewer dollars to buy US debt and that will put upward pressure in the interest we pay on it.

In the United States 6 out of every 10 jobs are low paying jobs. Bringing back manufacturing jobs can increase people's wages. So we can close the many convenient store jobs. Which almost every street corner has one. Do we really need so many convenient store jobs.

 

[Bradskii]

When was the times tariffs were turned on and off. I know the latest was a pause not turned off. So what are those 3 or 4 times.

He imposed 10%on China on day one. Then it would went north of 100%. Now it's 145% as I write this. He hit Canada and Mexico with 25% and then almost immediately cancelled that. Now they're back on, but only on certain commodities. Then it was 10% on all countries. Then it was a variety of tariffs for different countries (including one place that wasn't a country and only inhabited by penguins). Then he cancelled all those. But some tariffs still remain.

I mean, can anyone keep track of this madness? I should check the news before I hit 'Post Reply' in case it's changed in the last few hours. Ah, apparently it's now 10% for everyone except China.

He's making this up as he goes.

 

[loveofourlord]

In the United States 6 out of every 10 jobs are low paying jobs. Bringing back manufacturing jobs can increase people's wages. So we can close the many convenient store jobs. Which almost every street corner has one. Do we really need so many convenient store jobs.

not enough jobs as pointed out most of the jobs are going to be by robots, but lets say 100k people get jobs, what about the other 136.7 million whose living expenses have now gone up?

Either it's run by robots to keep cheap, or it's run by people with increases living expenses, and again takes 4 years to do.

 

[ozso]

While I'll agree that there is a difference between cost of living and a 401K, there is not when you are talking about cost of living and stocks -- even for some people who have long term investments. As an example, I'm retired and, despite having a "safe" portfolio (lots of "recession proof" stocks, bonds, etc) I still lost roughly 10% of my retirement account. Sure, with my long term stocks, it can be assumed (though not guaranteed) that in a few years) my retirement account will go back to what it was a month ago -- but I'll lose money and several years of time waiting for that to happen.

And that 10% loss is permanent?

I'll also say that my baby sister heard a comment from a stock analyst, telling those who have stocks in their retirement plan something similar to what you are saying, with a caveat -- he said it isn't an issue if you are more than 5 years away from retiring, that in the next 5 years that the market should go back up and their retirement fund will be back to what it was. Of course, that doesn't help my sister, who plans to retire in the next 5 years.

The issue with your thinking is that you are not realizing that there are millions of Americans who are affected today, they are already living (or will be in the next few years) on those accounts, so that any loss is a loss in the income they are living off of. Worse, those losses look as if they are soon to be multiplied by inflation -- as the high number of goods we have been importing from China are "taxed" by 145% (and that could easily still go higher), with no good short term replacement for those goods.

We'll see what happens the rest of the year but, from how things look at the moment, this could be a very rough year for Senior Citizens.

I'm 63, I'm one of them. I'm not washed up over a week of bad stock market. I'd hazard to say there's been quite a few bad stock market weeks over the years.

 

[ozso]

Temporary? We have at least another 90 days of uncertainty....that will weigh on the business investment in America and the markets.
Prediction:, Trump will continue to wield the tariff stick for the remainder of his presidency....(unless Congress re-asserts it's power).

It all depends on how those who play the stock market decide to play it.

 

[BCP1928]

In the United States 6 out of every 10 jobs are low paying jobs. Bringing back manufacturing jobs can increase people's wages. So we can close the many convenient store jobs. Which almost every street corner has one. Do we really need so many convenient store jobs.

Evidently the corporations that run convenience stores think so. Why do you think adding more low-paying jobs will change their minds?

 

[ozso]

LOL, I can't even have a normal conversation with you. Have a nice day.

Try being less impertinent.

 

[SimplyMe]

And that 10% loss is permanent?

I'm 63, I'm one of them. I'm not washed up over a week of bad stock market. I'd hazard to say there's been quite a few bad stock market weeks over the years.

To some degree, yes. That 10% came out of stocks, which is where my "liquidity" is. Obviously, if you have stocks as a retirement plan, then once retired you are slowly spending that money to live off of. And, while it would be nice to spend the money that didn't lose value -- the issue is that bonds and similar assets have time restraints, if I cash them out now there are penalties for cashing them out before they mature. That means that the stocks, where the losses have occurred, are the "liquid" part of the savings -- so you are taking the loss as you cash them out to finance your retirement. So, you either take into account that you have less money, and get rid of the same amount of stock and get the lowered value, meaning your budget is suddenly cut; or you sell enough to keep spending the same but suffer the extra loss to your retirement savings (it won't last as long).

It is also worth pointing out that I lost 10% of my overall savings. That money was not lost in bonds or similar investments with a guaranteed return, though I can't get to that money without incurring further losses, until they mature. The money was lost in stocks, meaning that it may have been a 20% drop, or more, in many of the stocks. While obviously you sell the stock with the least losses, that doesn't mean your aren't still losing money.

So, yes, since the point of a retirement plan is to sell off investments to pay for retirement, some losses will be permanent; and even ones that aren't sold off could still have no growth over the next several years. Again, we'll have to see how it plays out but there will be losses -- and the longer the recession goes the higher the losses will be.

 

[BeyondET]

Evidently the corporations that run convenience stores think so. Why do you think adding more low-paying jobs will change their minds?

We lost a bunch of manufacturing jobs, thats why there are 60% low paying jobs. Convenient stores isn’t the only low paying jobs out there, it's one example. The U.S. ditched 90,000 manufacturing jobs and sent to them to sweat shop countries.

 

[wing2000]

It all depends on how those who play the stock market decide to play it.

...and if you are a CEO whose company relies on imports to produce a product, how does one plan for the next year?

 

[BCP1928]

We lost a bunch of manufacturing jobs, thats why there are 60% low paying jobs. Convenient stores isn’t the only low paying jobs out there, it's one example. The U.S. ditched 90,000 manufacturing jobs and sent to them to sweat shop countries.

Boy, you really have drunk the Kool-aid. Why, then, are we putting tariffs on manufactured goods from countries where the workers are better off than ours?

 

[BeyondET]

He imposed 10%on China on day one. Then it would went north of 100%. Now it's 145% as I write this. He hit Canada and Mexico with 25% and then almost immediately cancelled that. Now they're back on, but only on certain commodities. Then it was 10% on all countries. Then it was a variety of tariffs for different countries (including one place that wasn't a country and only inhabited by penguins). Then he cancelled all those. But some tariffs still remain.

I mean, can anyone keep track of this madness? I should check the news before I hit 'Post Reply' in case it's changed in the last few hours. Ah, apparently it's now 10% for everyone except China.

He's making this up as he goes.

China has ripping off everyone for over 40 years, the reason why they have the largest navy in the world. It's time to put the brakes on their plans to rule the world through financial and military means.

 

[BeyondET]

Boy, you really have drunk the Kool-aid. Why, then, are we putting tariffs on manufactured goods from countries where the workers are better off than ours?

Because we have been getting ripped off for a very long time. You have drunk the Kool-aid if you think Chinese workers are better off than American workers

 

[Oompa Loompa]

Because we have been getting ripped off for a very long time. You have drunk the Kool-aid if you think Chinese workers are better off than American workers

 

[BCP1928]

Because we have been getting ripped off for a very long time. You have drunk the Kool-aid if you think Chinese workers are better off than American workers

Some are, but I wasn't talking about Chinese workers. Europe is facing tariffs, too, as well as Canada.

 

[BeyondET]

not enough jobs as pointed out most of the jobs are going to be by robots, but lets say 100k people get jobs, what about the other 136.7 million whose living expenses have now gone up?

Either it's run by robots to keep cheap, or it's run by people with increases living expenses, and again takes 4 years to do.

Your delusional if you think robots can run a whole manufacturing plant by themselves. Who is going to reset the boiler when it goes out on flame failure. People will biuld them and maintain them through training.

 

[BeyondET]

Some are, but I wasn't talking about Chinese workers. Europe is facing tariffs, too, as well as Canada.

Yup because we have allowed the poor trade deals for years. Some products sent to Canada have over a 200% tariffs if they choose to use it though it runs anywhere from 24% to 39%, making it hard to send those products there. The rest of the world does the same thing. Time to end the madness.

 

[loveofourlord]

Your delusional if you think robots can run a whole manufacturing plant by themselves. Who is going to reset the boiler when it goes out on flame failure. People will biuld them and maintain them through training.

how many jobs will each factory give you think? It's not going to require a lot of people to run those places, far less then the benefits and harm to the country. Reminds me of when people acted like the keystone pipeline give all these massive jobs, but the listed was only to build, to maintain barely be any.

 

[BeyondET]

how many jobs will each factory give you think? It's not going to require a lot of people to run those places, far less then the benefits and harm to the country. Reminds me of when people acted like the keystone pipeline give all these massive jobs, but the listed was only to build, to maintain barely be any.

How does manufacturing harm the country? Is it better to send the harm to another country?

 

[loveofourlord]

How does manufacturing harm the country? Is it better to send the harm to another country?

prices go up with little benefit to the consumer, and very few jobs, and will take 4 years, so are we going to wait for trump to putting tariffs on them?