Biden’s economy

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Simple PP, first I wouldn't of shut down the economy so long. Focusing on the aged and those with co-morbilities worked in several states, however the one sized fits all didn't work. Adding fiscal stimulus in the ARA (March 21) was wrong or should I say over stimulus. Second the Federal Reserve was too slow to announce rate increases and pushed a transitory tone way too long. We will be dealing with inflation for years to come and point you to the 1979/80 inflation fiasco. It took the Fed and Milton Friedman until 1986 to tame imflation.

For so long? We never really shut down the way it needed to, and once there were a few days of it, Trump started agitating to get it all re-opened, before there was any contact tracing or other protcols put in place. If his administration was never going to take the defensive measures necessary, then they never should have done the partial shut down. Instead, he inflicted the worst of both worlds on the country.

It doesn't even matter what politicians did. People vote with their feet and their wallets. So many Americans were afraid of the virus and pulled their kids from schools, started working from home, etc. The marketplace was speaking.

Until the virus is under reasonable control and my toddler is vaccinated, I'm not really interested in eating in restaurants or going to indoor concerts. You can proclaim all you want - "the economy is open!" - and I won't open my wallet until I feel safe. Neither will my mother with some serious health issues - they are avoiding a lot of stuff until the virus is endemic.

That said, I am traveling on airplanes this year. We flew for the holidays. I'm traveling next month. I'm also wearing an N95 on the plane. So I'm not a complete shut-in.

But this idea that any politician can "shut down" or "open up" the economy is laughable and naïve. We are all making our own individual decisions based on the factors in household, plus the latest statistics on spread in our areas. We won't be back to feeling like it's pre-COVID for a while with 35% of this country is unvaccinated plus a huge contingent of the world unvaccinated.

We need a new Marshall Plan for vaccination to get back to normal.

The vaccine is free and easy and accessible to anyone who wants it. We don't need a new plan. We need the anti-vaxxers to step up, or have insurance companies deny coverage for COVID related treatment to those who eschew the vaccine.

We kind of need a new plan - I agree. And honestly I was expecting Biden to get out there and sell it. He didn't.

If this had been Obama/Clinton/Trump (yes, the Orange Menace) I don't think it would be hard to imagine a president who announced a 50-state tour. He would have appeared in EVERY state with mass vaccination clinic on each stop. Biden ranted from a TV screen in 9 appearances throughout the year and said F It on Christmas.

That's not leadership. That's not appealing to the masses.

There is nothing more important than getting our country vaccinated. NOTHING. It is affecting our manufacturing power, supply chain, and readiness.

Hello, welcome to January 14, 2022. While you were sleeping all of yesterday, the illegitimate Supreme Court handed down a decision you might be interested in learning about. Spoiler alert: it has to do with the GOP justices trying to prolong the pandemic for political purposes.

You know I did see that...amazing what the Biden team could have been doing in 2021 to prevent something like this in the lower courts. Starting with getting off Manchin's @ss about that stupid social welfare build and working in lock-step with him to pass more judges, more administrators, and more political appointments above anything else.

Maybe even focusing on a whole country tour or plan to get even the reluctant vaccinated. So that his large corporation vaccine mandate would be a back-up plan and not the ONLY plan.

Just some thoughts.

[Anonymous]

Another day, another bad report for Joe. Jobless claims unexpectedly rise to 286k last week.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another day, another bad report for Joe. Jobless claims unexpectedly rise to 286k last week.

That eases inflation pressure, which is a good thing. Right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another day, another bad report for Joe. Jobless claims unexpectedly rise to 286k last week.

But the 500,000-800,000+ weekly claims for Trump was??????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Another day, another bad report for Joe. Jobless claims unexpectedly rise to 286k last week.

But the 500,000-800,000+ weekly claims for Trump was??????

We had a thing called a pandemic.

Pre pandemic we had a very strong economy and record low unemployment too. And even by the time Biden came into office, recovery was well underway, with unemployment numbers falling sharply. The trend was in place.

I do remember a relative of mine shrieking that she hoped more people would die and more people would lose their jobs in order to defeat Trump in 2020. She got her wish, and lost her job in the process

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

About time. Dependency on offshore chip manufacturing was a problem and a liability for years even before the pandemic. But hey, that's the private sector's brilliance and multimillion dollar CEO's wisdom on display....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

About time. Dependency on offshore chip manufacturing was a problem and a liability for years even before the pandemic. But hey, that's the private sector's brilliance and multimillion dollar CEO's wisdom on display....

Former Intel CEO Andy Grove has been talking about this for years, see here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2010-07-01/andy-grove-how-america-can-create-jobs

Also mirrored here: https://www.majorityleader.gov/content/andy-grove-how-america-can-create-jobs

"The job machine breakdown isn't just in computers. Consider alternative energy, an emerging industry where there's plenty of innovation. Photovoltaics, for example, are a U.S. invention. Their use in home energy applications was also pioneered by the U.S. Last year, I decided to do my bit for energy conservation and set out to equip my house with solar power. My wife and I talked with four local solar firms. As part of our due diligence, I checked where they get their photovoltaic panels—the key part of the system. All the panels they use come from China. A Silicon Valley company sells equipment used to manufacture photo-active films. They ship close to 10 times more machines to China than to manufacturers in the U.S., and this gap is growing (figure-D). Not surprisingly, U.S. employment in the making of photovoltaic films and panels is perhaps 10,000—just a few percent of estimated worldwide employment.

There's more at stake than exported jobs. With some technologies, both scaling and innovation take place overseas.

Such is the case with advanced batteries. It has taken years and many false starts, but finally we are about to witness mass-produced electric cars and trucks. They all rely on lithium-ion batteries. What microprocessors are to computing, batteries are to electric vehicles. Unlike with microprocessors, the U.S. share of lithium-ion battery production is tiny (figure-E).

That's a problem. A new industry needs an effective ecosystem in which technology knowhow accumulates, experience builds on experience, and close relationships develop between supplier and customer. The U.S. lost its lead in batteries 30 years ago when it stopped making consumer electronics devices. Whoever made batteries then gained the exposure and relationships needed to learn to supply batteries for the more demanding laptop PC market, and after that, for the even more demanding automobile market. U.S. companies did not participate in the first phase and consequently were not in the running for all that followed. I doubt they will ever catch up.

...

My point isn't that Intel was brilliant. The company was founded at a time when it was easier to scale domestically. For one thing, China wasn't yet open for business. More importantly, the U.S. had not yet forgotten that scaling was crucial to its economic future.

How could the U.S. have forgotten? I believe the answer has to do with a general undervaluing of manufacturing—the idea that as long as "knowledge work" stays in the U.S., it doesn't matter what happens to factory jobs. It's not just newspaper commentators who spread this idea. Consider this passage by Princeton University economist Alan S. Blinder: "The TV manufacturing industry really started here, and at one point employed many workers. But as TV sets became 'just a commodity,' their production moved offshore to locations with much lower wages. And nowadays the number of television sets manufactured in the U.S. is zero. A failure? No, a success."

I disagree. Not only did we lose an untold number of jobs, we broke the chain of experience that is so important in technological evolution. As happened with batteries, abandoning today's "commodity" manufacturing can lock you out of tomorrow's emerging industry."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

About time. Dependency on offshore chip manufacturing was a problem and a liability for years even before the pandemic. But hey, that's the private sector's brilliance and multimillion dollar CEO's wisdom on display....

Former Intel CEO Andy Grove has been talking about this for years, see here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2010-07-01/andy-grove-how-america-can-create-jobs

Also mirrored here: https://www.majorityleader.gov/content/andy-grove-how-america-can-create-jobs

"The job machine breakdown isn't just in computers. Consider alternative energy, an emerging industry where there's plenty of innovation. Photovoltaics, for example, are a U.S. invention. Their use in home energy applications was also pioneered by the U.S. Last year, I decided to do my bit for energy conservation and set out to equip my house with solar power. My wife and I talked with four local solar firms. As part of our due diligence, I checked where they get their photovoltaic panels—the key part of the system. All the panels they use come from China. A Silicon Valley company sells equipment used to manufacture photo-active films. They ship close to 10 times more machines to China than to manufacturers in the U.S., and this gap is growing (figure-D). Not surprisingly, U.S. employment in the making of photovoltaic films and panels is perhaps 10,000—just a few percent of estimated worldwide employment.

There's more at stake than exported jobs. With some technologies, both scaling and innovation take place overseas.

Such is the case with advanced batteries. It has taken years and many false starts, but finally we are about to witness mass-produced electric cars and trucks. They all rely on lithium-ion batteries. What microprocessors are to computing, batteries are to electric vehicles. Unlike with microprocessors, the U.S. share of lithium-ion battery production is tiny (figure-E).

That's a problem. A new industry needs an effective ecosystem in which technology knowhow accumulates, experience builds on experience, and close relationships develop between supplier and customer. The U.S. lost its lead in batteries 30 years ago when it stopped making consumer electronics devices. Whoever made batteries then gained the exposure and relationships needed to learn to supply batteries for the more demanding laptop PC market, and after that, for the even more demanding automobile market. U.S. companies did not participate in the first phase and consequently were not in the running for all that followed. I doubt they will ever catch up.

...

My point isn't that Intel was brilliant. The company was founded at a time when it was easier to scale domestically. For one thing, China wasn't yet open for business. More importantly, the U.S. had not yet forgotten that scaling was crucial to its economic future.

How could the U.S. have forgotten? I believe the answer has to do with a general undervaluing of manufacturing—the idea that as long as "knowledge work" stays in the U.S., it doesn't matter what happens to factory jobs. It's not just newspaper commentators who spread this idea. Consider this passage by Princeton University economist Alan S. Blinder: "The TV manufacturing industry really started here, and at one point employed many workers. But as TV sets became 'just a commodity,' their production moved offshore to locations with much lower wages. And nowadays the number of television sets manufactured in the U.S. is zero. A failure? No, a success."

I disagree. Not only did we lose an untold number of jobs, we broke the chain of experience that is so important in technological evolution. As happened with batteries, abandoning today's "commodity" manufacturing can lock you out of tomorrow's emerging industry."

Again, talking about it and doing it are two different things. They should have started this long ago.
Manufacturing wages should no longer be a question. We can use machinery and automation for most of the drudge work and humans where they are truly needed. We still need engineers, technicians and others, we still need humans to support plants full of robots.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Simple PP, first I wouldn't of shut down the economy so long. Focusing on the aged and those with co-morbilities worked in several states, however the one sized fits all didn't work. Adding fiscal stimulus in the ARA (March 21) was wrong or should I say over stimulus. Second the Federal Reserve was too slow to announce rate increases and pushed a transitory tone way too long. We will be dealing with inflation for years to come and point you to the 1979/80 inflation fiasco. It took the Fed and Milton Friedman until 1986 to tame imflation.

For so long? We never really shut down the way it needed to, and once there were a few days of it, Trump started agitating to get it all re-opened, before there was any contact tracing or other protcols put in place. If his administration was never going to take the defensive measures necessary, then they never should have done the partial shut down. Instead, he inflicted the worst of both worlds on the country.

It doesn't even matter what politicians did. People vote with their feet and their wallets. So many Americans were afraid of the virus and pulled their kids from schools, started working from home, etc. The marketplace was speaking.

Until the virus is under reasonable control and my toddler is vaccinated, I'm not really interested in eating in restaurants or going to indoor concerts. You can proclaim all you want - "the economy is open!" - and I won't open my wallet until I feel safe. Neither will my mother with some serious health issues - they are avoiding a lot of stuff until the virus is endemic.

That said, I am traveling on airplanes this year. We flew for the holidays. I'm traveling next month. I'm also wearing an N95 on the plane. So I'm not a complete shut-in.

But this idea that any politician can "shut down" or "open up" the economy is laughable and naïve. We are all making our own individual decisions based on the factors in household, plus the latest statistics on spread in our areas. We won't be back to feeling like it's pre-COVID for a while with 35% of this country is unvaccinated plus a huge contingent of the world unvaccinated.

We need a new Marshall Plan for vaccination to get back to normal.

The vaccine is free and easy and accessible to anyone who wants it. We don't need a new plan. We need the anti-vaxxers to step up, or have insurance companies deny coverage for COVID related treatment to those who eschew the vaccine.

We kind of need a new plan - I agree. And honestly I was expecting Biden to get out there and sell it. He didn't.

If this had been Obama/Clinton/Trump (yes, the Orange Menace) I don't think it would be hard to imagine a president who announced a 50-state tour. He would have appeared in EVERY state with mass vaccination clinic on each stop. Biden ranted from a TV screen in 9 appearances throughout the year and said F It on Christmas.

That's not leadership. That's not appealing to the masses.

There is nothing more important than getting our country vaccinated. NOTHING. It is affecting our manufacturing power, supply chain, and readiness.

Hello, welcome to January 14, 2022. While you were sleeping all of yesterday, the illegitimate Supreme Court handed down a decision you might be interested in learning about. Spoiler alert: it has to do with the GOP justices trying to prolong the pandemic for political purposes.

You know I did see that...amazing what the Biden team could have been doing in 2021 to prevent something like this in the lower courts. Starting with getting off Manchin's @ss about that stupid social welfare build and working in lock-step with him to pass more judges, more administrators, and more political appointments above anything else.

Maybe even focusing on a whole country tour or plan to get even the reluctant vaccinated. So that his large corporation vaccine mandate would be a back-up plan and not the ONLY plan.

Just some thoughts.

Appointing more lower court judges (btw he appointed a record number) or executive branch officials would have zero effect on what the Supreme Court did. The Supreme Court (and the republicans who appointed the them) is responsible for its decisions, not Biden.

[Anonymous]

Meanwhile stocks dropped again today with large tech shares sell off. The S&P and NASDAQ posted their worst weekly losses since the onset of the pandemic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

About time. Dependency on offshore chip manufacturing was a problem and a liability for years even before the pandemic. But hey, that's the private sector's brilliance and multimillion dollar CEO's wisdom on display....

Former Intel CEO Andy Grove has been talking about this for years, see here: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2010-07-01/andy-grove-how-america-can-create-jobs

Also mirrored here: https://www.majorityleader.gov/content/andy-grove-how-america-can-create-jobs

"The job machine breakdown isn't just in computers. Consider alternative energy, an emerging industry where there's plenty of innovation. Photovoltaics, for example, are a U.S. invention. Their use in home energy applications was also pioneered by the U.S. Last year, I decided to do my bit for energy conservation and set out to equip my house with solar power. My wife and I talked with four local solar firms. As part of our due diligence, I checked where they get their photovoltaic panels—the key part of the system. All the panels they use come from China. A Silicon Valley company sells equipment used to manufacture photo-active films. They ship close to 10 times more machines to China than to manufacturers in the U.S., and this gap is growing (figure-D). Not surprisingly, U.S. employment in the making of photovoltaic films and panels is perhaps 10,000—just a few percent of estimated worldwide employment.

There's more at stake than exported jobs. With some technologies, both scaling and innovation take place overseas.

Such is the case with advanced batteries. It has taken years and many false starts, but finally we are about to witness mass-produced electric cars and trucks. They all rely on lithium-ion batteries. What microprocessors are to computing, batteries are to electric vehicles. Unlike with microprocessors, the U.S. share of lithium-ion battery production is tiny (figure-E).

That's a problem. A new industry needs an effective ecosystem in which technology knowhow accumulates, experience builds on experience, and close relationships develop between supplier and customer. The U.S. lost its lead in batteries 30 years ago when it stopped making consumer electronics devices. Whoever made batteries then gained the exposure and relationships needed to learn to supply batteries for the more demanding laptop PC market, and after that, for the even more demanding automobile market. U.S. companies did not participate in the first phase and consequently were not in the running for all that followed. I doubt they will ever catch up.

...

My point isn't that Intel was brilliant. The company was founded at a time when it was easier to scale domestically. For one thing, China wasn't yet open for business. More importantly, the U.S. had not yet forgotten that scaling was crucial to its economic future.

How could the U.S. have forgotten? I believe the answer has to do with a general undervaluing of manufacturing—the idea that as long as "knowledge work" stays in the U.S., it doesn't matter what happens to factory jobs. It's not just newspaper commentators who spread this idea. Consider this passage by Princeton University economist Alan S. Blinder: "The TV manufacturing industry really started here, and at one point employed many workers. But as TV sets became 'just a commodity,' their production moved offshore to locations with much lower wages. And nowadays the number of television sets manufactured in the U.S. is zero. A failure? No, a success."

I disagree. Not only did we lose an untold number of jobs, we broke the chain of experience that is so important in technological evolution. As happened with batteries, abandoning today's "commodity" manufacturing can lock you out of tomorrow's emerging industry."

Again, talking about it and doing it are two different things. They should have started this long ago.
Manufacturing wages should no longer be a question. We can use machinery and automation for most of the drudge work and humans where they are truly needed. We still need engineers, technicians and others, we still need humans to support plants full of robots.

He did do it in his day. Andy Grove stepped down as CEO 1998 and died in 2016.

[Anonymous]

[Anonymous]

After years of barely budging, wage growth is finally at its highest level in decades. A global pandemic, combined with swift government stimulus and unexpected labor shortages have put workers in the drivers’ seat, giving them the kind of negotiating power they’d never imagined.
But in an unexpected twist, the same strong economic recovery that is emboldening workers is also driving up inflation, leaving most Americans with less spending power than they had a year ago.

Although average hourly wages rose 4.7 percent last year, overall wages fell 2.4 percent on average for all workers, when adjusted for inflation, according to the Labor Department.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/01/22/wages-inflation/

This is the real problem. Most people are seeing declines in real buying power. This is not DCUM inside the beltway households with 400k HHI but the great bulk of Americans who make under 100k. And this inflation doesn't include rising rental/housing costs.

[Anonymous]