Editor’s note. A historical perspective of ag prices. An agro industry strategy that addresses farm prices is needed. The WTO prevents such a strategy, but whether the WTO survives the near future is an open question. Though the 2018 mid-term elections are still in the rearview mirror, the 2020 presidential election campaign is in…
Editor’s note. Brad Setser discusses his take on the exchange rate implications of the US-China trade skirmish. Whither the yuan. [Brad W. Setser | May 10, 2019 | Council on Foreign Relations] Until this past week, it looked like the United States and China were heading toward a deal. Not a great deal, but a deal.…
Excerpt: “In order to reduce our trade deficit — one of the big objectives of this administration — we need to deal with China as an entity, and we need to deal with automotives as a product line,” Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross said. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross said autos share equal blame with China for the U.S.…
Editor’s note: The fantasy narrative of China’s nuclear option – selling US treasuries to tank the dollar – was always wrong. This story shows that the mainstream press is accepting that it was wrong. China selling treasury bonds would, if it had an effect, push the dollar exchange rate down. which would be good for…
Editor’s note: A very good piece on tariffs’ pro-growth role in US economic development. The Trump White House on Friday ramped up tariffs on billions of dollars of Chinese goods as talks to resolve a tense standoff over trade dragged on — resorting to a weapon once used regularly by American leaders. [Jeffry Bartash |…
Editor’s note. CPA Chairman DiMicco does a great job vs Sen. Heitkamp on Squawk Box. [May 13, 2019 | Squawk Box on Twitter] Watch the interview here with Former U.S. Senator from North Dakota Heidi Heitkamp and Dan DiMicco, CPA’s chairman.
Excerpt: “Yet, free traders in their fantasy world want to keep saying the tariffs are raising prices. The reality is they’re not, and it’s demonstrated by the performance of the economy. And for every one that you could bring to me that says, oh, we’ve been harmed, I can give you a hundred examples where they’re not. You…
Editors note. A good article detailing President Xi’s challenge to the US and the world. However, by focusing on the current president it ignores that for the past 30 years the ruling class has been China First hawks, not dovish, democratic internationalists. He is the global leader of opposition to the US position in international…
Editors note. This is a few days old but reposted to show the following point. Governor Hickenlooper, running for president, is an unreformed free trade advocate. Massive deregulation and socialism would both ruin the economic system that allows America to flourish. [John Hickenlooper | May 5, 2019 | WSJ] Dramatic income inequality has driven voters…
Excerpt: “Simply put, there is no tariff armageddon. Wages and purchasing power are up. But consumer prices aren’t.” Beijing has run roughshod over our economic well-being — and there are national security implications to rampant hacking [Michael Stumo | May 9, 2019 | LifeZette] The talking heads at CNBC are panicked right now about the…