Just hangin' out here in the middle of nowhere. Got nowhere to go, got nothin' to do.
Just hangin' out here, dollar in my hand, whoopin' and hollerin' for the ice cream man.
Dr. John, Shoo Fly Goes Marchin' On. from In the Right Place
Good advice from the Doctor. I have a lot to do and many places to go, but guess what?
Wednesday is the 4th of July and, I guarantee you that there will be little real business done from tomorrow noon until Thursday afternoon. Many have the day off and will be ready to run on Tuesday and recovering Thursday morning. Those who must work will not be happy, eager employees. So I'm just hangin' out. And, yes, I will be eating some ice cream.
But, the news keeps coming and today we are dealing with tariffs. The President is still not thrilled with China and has started a scuffle with Canada. In addition, he is getting testy with the EU. He is right. We need not put up with unfair trade practices.
However, the Stock Market is getting a wee bit jumpy. On the whole, I could care less about that because there is not a real indicator of the state of the economy. Still, I have some concern because a lot of folks have their retirement funds tied up in there. My advice is get out. Move your money somewhere safe. I have seen bubbles burst. The tech bubble under Clinton and the housing bubble under Bush 2. For a few years, some experts have said that the current Market is over priced and predicting a break. It will come.
Also, as these tariffs take hold, prices will rise. That is how it should be. We have grown to used to buying second rate, dirt cheap products from foreign lands, who. on return, buy little of our properly made goods because of the expense. Instead, they steal our ideas and produce junk, which, like idiots buy. This must stop and will, but, many Americans, like spoiled brats, will scream at higher prices. Forget the increase in jobs. They just want cheap electronics and clothes. Actually, they want both, but that just is not going to happen.
So, look for the economic road to get a might bumpy for a while. Don't worry. Just hang out . And keep an eye out for the ice cream man.
Showing posts with label trade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label trade. Show all posts
Monday, July 2, 2018
Thursday, June 14, 2018
Look South
We pay so much attention to China, Korea, Russia and the Mid East and, for reasons I don't understand, we pay little attention to South and Central America and the Islands in the Gulf and Caribbean..
Those Nations are our neighbors, they are all based in Western Civilization and they can be a great boon to us or our worst nightmare.
The boon? They gave an abundance of resources, oil, minerals, timber and crops. Plus, they are a huge market, with many millions eager to buy quality products.
The nightmare? Well, they don't much like or trust us. With good reason. Over the years, we have supported brutal governments ib their lands so long as they supported our businesses. Remember Somoza in Nicaragua. Batista in Cuba. Remember how we led the overthrow and assassination of Allende in Chile (by the CIA's own admission). Don't remember? They do. And these were not isolated incidents. Add that enmity into a hellish impoverishment and you have a fine recipe for terrorism, Terrorists are not all Islamic.
Nothing to do about the past except move on and we can do that by helping these Countries when we cam. WE do this by treating them like adults, Do business when both sides are ready to trade as equals. Stop telling them how to run their own governments. Refuse to deal with them when they brutalize their own people and do nothing to end extreme poverty. Brazil has vast wealth, but most live in deep poverty, while the elite party in Rio.
And definitely refuse to deal with them when they tolerate drug smugglers shipping their products to the US. Cut off Nations like Peru, Columbia and Mexico until they get a grip on the production and smuggling of drugs in their own back yards,
In addition, we, Americans, need to learn more about our neighbors. They have rich and fascinating cultures. Understanding them will enrich us all.
Those Nations are our neighbors, they are all based in Western Civilization and they can be a great boon to us or our worst nightmare.
The boon? They gave an abundance of resources, oil, minerals, timber and crops. Plus, they are a huge market, with many millions eager to buy quality products.
The nightmare? Well, they don't much like or trust us. With good reason. Over the years, we have supported brutal governments ib their lands so long as they supported our businesses. Remember Somoza in Nicaragua. Batista in Cuba. Remember how we led the overthrow and assassination of Allende in Chile (by the CIA's own admission). Don't remember? They do. And these were not isolated incidents. Add that enmity into a hellish impoverishment and you have a fine recipe for terrorism, Terrorists are not all Islamic.
Nothing to do about the past except move on and we can do that by helping these Countries when we cam. WE do this by treating them like adults, Do business when both sides are ready to trade as equals. Stop telling them how to run their own governments. Refuse to deal with them when they brutalize their own people and do nothing to end extreme poverty. Brazil has vast wealth, but most live in deep poverty, while the elite party in Rio.
And definitely refuse to deal with them when they tolerate drug smugglers shipping their products to the US. Cut off Nations like Peru, Columbia and Mexico until they get a grip on the production and smuggling of drugs in their own back yards,
In addition, we, Americans, need to learn more about our neighbors. They have rich and fascinating cultures. Understanding them will enrich us all.
Thursday, January 7, 2016
America and its Southern Neighbors
I am confused about something, but of course that's nothing new. For my entire life, this Nation has concerned itself with Europe, the Mid-East and, to lesser degrees, Asia and Africa, We have, mostly, ignored our neighbors to the South. Why?
The only President I remember paying a lot of attention to the region is JFK, whose Alliance for Progress was a great idea that became lost in LBJ's Great Society and Viet Nam pushes. Oh sure, every now and then we give lip service to the area, mostly when a natural disaster occurs. Nixon did turn his attention to Chile but only to allow Kissinger to unseat and execute their properly elected President, Salvador Allende, a move that hardly won us friends. Clinton's NAFTA deal did nothing to help them or us. Our occasional mucking about in the affairs of Haiti has been disastrous for those poor folks. Mexico, who should be a dear friend, is only thought of when we get riled about illegal immigrants (they have been coming here to work farms as long as we have had farms) and when we want to pretend we are fighting a war on drugs.
Venezuela is a case in point. When heating oil was going through the roof, Hugo Chavez offered to sell cheap oil to the US. His efforts at good will were rebuffed and he was treated like an unwanted step child. Look at Cuba. Our sanctions have done great harm to the Cuban people. Forget Castro. Yes, he is a monster, but no worse than a bunch of other monsters we have supported. Remember, after we ousted Allende in Chile, we supported, avidly, Pinochet, a cruel creature who sent death squads through the streets slaughtering opponents, except for a select few who he had tortured to death.
But these, blessedly, are exceptions. Most of the time we pretty much ignore Latin America and we will regret that. Nations like Brazil and Argentina could be great allies and trading partners, as could Bolivia, Peru, and, now that I think about it, any country down there. Yet, we are so damned interested in the mid-East. I can't imagine why. It's not about oil. Mexico and Venezuela have huge oil reserves. Instead, China does a lot of business with Latin America, and not just oil. Several of those countries have large reserves of rare minerals, the kind that are used in almost every high tech industry. Yet, we seem to have no interest in cultivating relations with them.
If things go as usual, we will continue ignoring Latin America until we desperately need something from them, and that day will come. Then we will have to go either with hat in hand, begging, or we will try our frequent strategy, bullying. Those folks aren't dumb, they will remember and we will pay for our neglect
If I were a young person, entering college, I would study Spanish and Portuguese. I would learn everything I could about Latin America's history, culture and economics. I would study their climates and geography and natural resources. Because then, I believe, about the time the studies are finished, we will be looking more and more at Latin America, either as a very lucrative trading partner and ally or as a serious and perhaps even deadly rival. Either way, that knowledge would be indispensable and I would have a fine professional life ahead of me. But, you know, wouldn't it be nice if for once, we used a little foresight and entered into a new era of relations with our Southern Neighbors as friends.
The only President I remember paying a lot of attention to the region is JFK, whose Alliance for Progress was a great idea that became lost in LBJ's Great Society and Viet Nam pushes. Oh sure, every now and then we give lip service to the area, mostly when a natural disaster occurs. Nixon did turn his attention to Chile but only to allow Kissinger to unseat and execute their properly elected President, Salvador Allende, a move that hardly won us friends. Clinton's NAFTA deal did nothing to help them or us. Our occasional mucking about in the affairs of Haiti has been disastrous for those poor folks. Mexico, who should be a dear friend, is only thought of when we get riled about illegal immigrants (they have been coming here to work farms as long as we have had farms) and when we want to pretend we are fighting a war on drugs.
Venezuela is a case in point. When heating oil was going through the roof, Hugo Chavez offered to sell cheap oil to the US. His efforts at good will were rebuffed and he was treated like an unwanted step child. Look at Cuba. Our sanctions have done great harm to the Cuban people. Forget Castro. Yes, he is a monster, but no worse than a bunch of other monsters we have supported. Remember, after we ousted Allende in Chile, we supported, avidly, Pinochet, a cruel creature who sent death squads through the streets slaughtering opponents, except for a select few who he had tortured to death.
But these, blessedly, are exceptions. Most of the time we pretty much ignore Latin America and we will regret that. Nations like Brazil and Argentina could be great allies and trading partners, as could Bolivia, Peru, and, now that I think about it, any country down there. Yet, we are so damned interested in the mid-East. I can't imagine why. It's not about oil. Mexico and Venezuela have huge oil reserves. Instead, China does a lot of business with Latin America, and not just oil. Several of those countries have large reserves of rare minerals, the kind that are used in almost every high tech industry. Yet, we seem to have no interest in cultivating relations with them.
If things go as usual, we will continue ignoring Latin America until we desperately need something from them, and that day will come. Then we will have to go either with hat in hand, begging, or we will try our frequent strategy, bullying. Those folks aren't dumb, they will remember and we will pay for our neglect
If I were a young person, entering college, I would study Spanish and Portuguese. I would learn everything I could about Latin America's history, culture and economics. I would study their climates and geography and natural resources. Because then, I believe, about the time the studies are finished, we will be looking more and more at Latin America, either as a very lucrative trading partner and ally or as a serious and perhaps even deadly rival. Either way, that knowledge would be indispensable and I would have a fine professional life ahead of me. But, you know, wouldn't it be nice if for once, we used a little foresight and entered into a new era of relations with our Southern Neighbors as friends.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)