Trump to add a 5% tariff on all imports

@Builder,

Makes me wonder if there shouldn't be special case variances in our patent law.

1 Reply

@roger,

Some transparency in the political donations sector might help.

0 Replies

@George,

Quote George:

Quote:

So how will this affect foreign companies that manufacture in the US?

My guess is, not at all, since anything a foreign country manufactures in the US is not an import.

2 Replies

@Blickers,

But many of the parts they import are made in other countries. Many American companies have manufacturing plants in many countries.

http://www.manufacturingnews.com/news/TAA0731131.html

0 Replies

@Blickers,

Blickers wrote:

George wrote:
So how will this affect foreign companies that manufacture in the US?
My guess is, not at all, since anything a foreign country manufactures in the
US is not an import.

If there is a trade war, perhaps these plants could be used in retaliatory ways
by the foreign nation.

1 Reply

@George,

I don't think China or Russia have too many manufacturing plants here. I think China has some holdings in real estate, but it's hard to see how they could use that in a trade war.

1 Reply

@Blickers,

China also holds US Treasuries.

1 Reply

@cicerone imposter,

China cannot cash in US Treasuries all at once, ie. "call in the debt". The Treasuries are purchased at a certain date, and the due date is some specific date in the future. Before that due date, the buyer is not due a nickel. At the due date the buyer cashes in the Treasury bill and receives the amount the T-bill was worth, which is always more than the amount the buyer paid. China can only redeem the T-bills on their due date-they cannot walk up to the US and say, "Gimme my money for all these T-bills I have". They will receive their money for the T-bills that have come due, they won't receive any money for the T-bills which are not due yet until the due date arrives for those bills.

Paying off the T-bills on their date is known as "debt service", and it takes less than 10% of Federal revenues per year. That leaves over 90% of Federal revenues to be used for defense, health care, etc. In short, debtwise the United States is in pretty good shape. There is no crisis at all, contrary to the right wing media.

1 Reply

@Blickers,

Doesn't matter. All I suggested was the China owns most of the US Treasuries. How it's scheduled is not of any concern. The US government knows how to ladder bonds. That also applies to corporate bonds.

2 Replies

@cicerone imposter,

Japan now holds more US treasury bonds than China.

And the federal reserve is buying their own bonds, remember?

Something like 5 trillion dollars worth.

What do they do when their own T-bonds mature?

1 Reply

@Builder,

I dunno. What does happen? And when you tell us that, tell us how it makes a difference since it's a case of the US government owing money to itself.

2 Replies

@cicerone imposter,

Quote cicerone imposter:

Quote:

Doesn't matter. All I suggested was the China owns most of the US Treasuries. How it's scheduled is not of any concern. The US government knows how to ladder bonds. That also applies to corporate bonds.

It does matter in this discussion, since the one of the things brought up in financial discussions is the dark day when China supposedly will "call in it's US debt". And that day can never happen, since the bonds mature at different times over the next several years. The economy of the US keeps growing, and we have no trouble paying our matured bonds.

Basically, it's Russia doing its best on social media pretending that China will one day collapse the US economy be "calling in its debt". Since most people don't know that China cannot do that because the T bills they own mature over the next several years, some people believe it. Which is why the Russians say it.

0 Replies

@Blickers,

Quote:

Penalties for not cashing mature savings bonds
Friday, December 24th, 2004
Categorized as: Stinker bonds
Is there a penalty incurred for not cashing in E bonds when they mature?
Tom’s response
There are two penalties.
Once a savings bond matures it no longer earns interest. So you’re losing the money you’d get if you reinvested in a new savings bond that’s earning interest.
Also, the IRS considers the income tax to be due in the year the savings bond matures. If you don’t cash it that year, you won’t get a tax form to help you declare this. When you declare it later, the IRS can penalize you for not declaring it in the right year.

0 Replies

@Blickers,

Quote:

tell us how it makes a difference since it's a case of the US government owing money to itself.

It's all the way in the future (2038), so none of those alive today will have to face that problem.

It's an old man's game, this political posturing.

Look at the age of the three likely candidates. Hell, one of them is saying she's good to go in 2020. Took four aides to bundle her into a van this round.

1 Reply

@Builder,

Quote Builder:

Quote:

It's all the way in the future (2038), so none of those alive today will have to face that problem.

By the time we hit 2038, the date of Social Security exhaustion will have been pushed way back to 2065. That's the way it works, the date of exhaustion keeps getting pushed back and back. During the recession, the date doesn't get pushed back much, which is why it's 2038 and not 2050 or so. But as the economy recovers, it goes back and back again.

Back in the nineties, superconservatives were all promising everyone that by 2010, all the Social Security money in the trust fund would be gone, gone, gone. Now it's pushed back to 2038, but the prophets of Doom and Gloom never stop, no matter how wrong they are proven to be.

1 Reply

@Blickers,

Still pretending to know what's going on behind the scenes, I see.

Glad it makes you happy, Blinkers.

1 Reply

@Builder,

Still pretending to know something about economics from those talking points they give you. What I said about the Social Security Trust fund expiration date being always pushed back over the course of decades is true, and anyone who actually follows economics knows it.

1 Reply

@Blickers,

So you believe that tired line that the social security fund is going broke?

It seems you're likely to believe anything these known liars feed to you.

Quote:

This will mark the third time I have posted this piece, but Social Security is so poorly understood that I thought it couldn't hurt to do it again. Plus, a friend informed me that today was the anniversary of the signing of the Social Security Act by FDR in 1935!

It is a logical impossibility for Social Security to go bankrupt. We can voluntarily choose to suspend or eliminate the program, but it could never fail because it “ran out of money.” This belief is the result of a common error: conceptualizing Social Security from the micro (individual) rather than the macro (economy-wide) perspective. It’s not a pension fund into which you put your money when you are young and from which you draw when you are old. It’s an immediate transfer from workers today to retirees today. That’s what it has always been and that’s what it has to be–there is no other possible way for it to work.

source

1 Reply

@Builder,

Quote Builder:

Quote:

So you believe that tired line that the social security fund is going broke?

If you knew anything about economics, Builder, you would understand that I was arguing against the idea that Social Security was going broke. But since you basically just skim what the members post then try to make a link with the list of talking points your boss gives you, it's easy to see where you made your mistake.

1 Reply

@Blickers,

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_Trust_Fund#/media/File:Cumulative_OASDI_Income_Less_Cost_-_2008_Report.png

0 Replies

Trump to add a 5% tariff on all imports

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