China vs. the US: shipbuilding, subsidies, and the Jones Act

April 29, 2024April 30, 2024 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Hypocrisy thrives where double standards prevail.

Earlier, I stupidly tweeted out an article about the Jones Act and shipbuilding and Colin Grabow, from the Cato Institute, liked it (he was quoted in the article). I looked him up and decided to listen to this video on the shipbuilding competition between China and the US, where he and a lawyer for United Steelworkers were on the panel. China is eating their lunch, and it’s the ruling elites’ own fault, yet they scapegoat China for it. The double standards over China’s “unfair economic practices” AKA the subsidizing of their shipbuilding industry irritates me (liars irritate me even more). States give subsidies, grants, and tax breaks to corporations, all the time. Fincantieri Marinette Marine is just one example, but Wisconsin had done the same for Foxconn. Foxconn received tax breaks and $3B in subsidies, which was “the largest ever subsidy provided by a state to a foreign company”, despite not living up to their promises.

Rumble

Colin Grabow wants to end the Jones Act. I’ve made at least three video clips regarding the Jones Act, two with Sal Mercogliano from What’s Going On With Shipping and one from the government-funded CSIS (I’ve posted them, below). Spoiler alert: Sal says that the problem isn’t the Jones Act. Meanwhile, both CSIS and the Cato Institute (part of the Atlas Network) blame the Jones Act. Deregulation is a wet dream of big corporations (which fund both the Cato Institute and CSIS).

Biden’s push for more Chinese steel tariffs is a political decision, not an economic one: Analyst

April 18, 2024April 18, 2024 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Biden’s push for more Chinese steel tariffs is a political decision, not an economic one: Analyst

Biden wants to hike tariffs on imports of Chinese steel and aluminum

Chinese steel imports account for less than 1% of U.S. demand, officials told reporters. But Chinese subsidies and programs mean its steel prices are 40% lower than U.S. prices, and the Biden administration is worried that there could be a surge of exports.

New Democrat Coalition Trade Task Force Statement on Section 301 Tariffs Announcement

IMF sets another condition for crisis-hit Pakistan to revive loan

March 28, 2023March 28, 2023 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Crisis-hit Pakistan has made various economic modifications including hikes in fuel prices, raising taxes, and others demanded by IMF to unlock the loan program.
IMF sets another condition for crisis-hit Pakistan to revive loan

In 2018, Imran Khan became Prime Minister of Pakistan. For this, they arranged friendly loans from Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates and China to avoid tough IMF conditions. In 2019, when economic conditions worsened, they went to IMF for the twenty-second time for a loan of US$1 billion. IMF gave loan based on conditions such as hike in energy tariffs, removal of energy subsidy, increase in taxation, privatization of public entities and fiscal policies to the budget.

IMF bailout package — rescue or trap for Pakistan?

“The IMF’s agenda is not to strengthen global economies because if it does that, then the Fund itself will be out of business,” he said.

Raising Social Security’s retirement age would slam low-wage workers yet again

March 20, 2023March 20, 2023 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

A proposal by Sens. Angus King (I-ME) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA) to raise the Social Security retirement age to 70 would be a massive benefit cut, particularly affecting low-wage workers. If Congress enacts it, millions more Social Security taxpayers would not live long enough to collect a cent in retirement benefits.
Raising Social Security’s retirement age would slam low-wage workers yet again

Tax Flight Is a Myth

December 18, 2022December 18, 2022 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Tax Flight Is a Myth

A study by the American Sociological Association in 2016 found that while massive top rate tax hikes might cause some millionaires to move from their high-tax state to a low-tax state, the amount of them doing so for this reason was negligible. Millionaires moved for tax purposes around 2.2% of the time. Indeed, in any event the rate of inter-state migration generally was lower for millionaires, at 2.4%, than it was for the general population, at 2.9%.

Debunking the Myth of the Fleeing Millionaire

Andrew Yang Launches Third Party For Billionaires

July 30, 2022July 31, 2022 Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Rather than something new, the party is attempting to reach a previous Republican electorate that existed before Donald Trump took control of the party.

Universal Basic Income May Sound Attractive But, If It Occurred, Would Likelier Increase Poverty Than Reduce It

Opinion: Most third parties have failed. Here’s why ours won’t.

The People’s Party has their own problems, as well.

Ms. Cat’s Chronicles

“The most violent element in society is ignorance.” —Emma Goldman

Tag: tax increases

Biden’s push for more Chinese steel tariffs is a political decision, not an economic one: Analyst

IMF sets another condition for crisis-hit Pakistan to revive loan