tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post5619106687154004598..comments2024-03-29T10:51:27.752+13:00Comments on Not PC: "Putin is losing the economic as well as the military war."Peter Cresswellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10699845031503699181noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-51506417777012136972022-05-26T13:00:20.686+12:002022-05-26T13:00:20.686+12:00and on solar cells also. idjits https://johnhcochr...and on solar cells also. idjits https://johnhcochrane.blogspot.com/2022/05/sloar-panel-tariffs.htmlPhil Snoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-25740688211690085282022-05-26T09:08:16.464+12:002022-05-26T09:08:16.464+12:00We are in complete agreement about the idiocy of U...We are in complete agreement about the idiocy of US trade restrictions in a normal trade environment. My point is that the sanctions are not working apart from some specialist chips as you point out. Western economies are getting relatively weaker as they are punished by inflation whil Russian exports hold up. When they adjust their supply chains they will be fine. Phil snoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-74397277886697667222022-05-25T16:54:18.898+12:002022-05-25T16:54:18.898+12:00I’m wondering, is this ‘motivated reasoning’, moti...I’m wondering, is this ‘motivated reasoning’, motivated in this case by sympathy for Putin’s Russia?MarkThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06199883270652041621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-56862008894753966212022-05-25T12:29:24.050+12:002022-05-25T12:29:24.050+12:00Further details on how baby formula supplies are h...Further details on how baby formula supplies are hobbled by claptrap: <br /><br /><i>"Regulation is a major reason only four large formula producers control most of the U.S. market. First, parents receiving WIC assistance are allowed to choose only certain brands. Second, consumers must pay a 17.5 percent tariff on any imported formula, which prices countless brands out of the U.S. market. It’s a nice arrangement for the companies — and for their lobbyists — but it raises prices for families and makes it difficult to boost supplies during shortages.<br /><br />"When new formulas enter the market, regulations forbid sellers from letting anyone know about them for 90 days, even as manufacturers may advertise existing formulas all they like. Those first months on the shelf are make-or-break for many new products, which is why existing producers like this otherwise pointless regulation. At times like this, parents might appreciate hearing about new options.<br /><br />"One of those options is toddler formula, which in many cases meets the Food and Drug Administration’s nutritional requirements for infant formula. However, FDA regulations prohibit many manufacturers from recommending this option."</i><br /><br />This is from Ryan Young, “<a href="https://www.aier.org/article/cronyism-makes-the-baby-formula-shortage-worse/" rel="nofollow">Cronyism Makes the Baby Formula Shortage Worse,</a>” AIER, May 24, 2022.PChttp://pc.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-76731370957513249842022-05-25T10:11:45.846+12:002022-05-25T10:11:45.846+12:00Oddly enough, when he's on his specialist subj...Oddly enough, when he's on his specialist subject, i.e., trade, Krugman can be very good. As he is here, where he's exactly right: that the point of international trade is not exports, but imports.<br /><br />He's supported by the recent revelation that the Russian military is having so much trouble repairing and rebuilding modern tanks, because of the sanctions & embargo on modern digital components etc. needed, that they are sending into Ukraine 60 year old T 62 tanks (i.e., 37 tons of death-trap scrapmetal). <br /><br />Soaring Western energy costs? Perhaps because so many Western govts (Germany especially) have shackled the use of nuclear. Many (Australia, UK, US) have shut down or shackled energy production. And others (NZ) have shut down or shackled exploration. But in any case, the objection proves the point: that the point of trade for the West as well is imports (i.e., Russian gas) rather than exports. The West's denial of this boon for the moment supports rather than invalidates the point.<br /><br />"Food aid" supplied my military flights? Perhaps again if the US govt allowed markets to work -- in this case, the market for baby formula -- instead of shackling them hand and foot with. protectionist claptrap, then this foot-shooting headline-grabbing mess wouldn't exist. All parties need to learn the point that Krugman is making: that the primary point of trade is the imports it buys you, not the exports needed to buy them. <br /><br />It's like an amazing technology, trade: in order to make electronics and cars, NZ sends milk powder to buyers overseas; but if buyers overseas shut their borders to our milk powder because of protectionist claptrap, we miss out (if we can't find other buyers) but they miss out too. A lot.PChttp://pc.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11906042.post-21183994175780599932022-05-24T12:47:26.606+12:002022-05-24T12:47:26.606+12:00Lol. I never thought I would see the day that PC ...Lol. I never thought I would see the day that PC goes Keynesian and starts quoting Krugman. As goes a household so goes a nation. A trade surplus is deferred consumption aka saving and is holding up the value of the Ruble. The poor benighted Russians are no longer able to buy overpriced Starbucks royalty coffee, Maccas or tat from Ikea. There is nothing stopping them buying Chinese. In the meantime the West has gone from mean tweets to soaring energy costs, facing recession, America needing food aid supplied by military flights. This is nonsense on stilts. What would failed economic sanctions look like when the West sent $35bn to US per month for energy while providing $1bn to Ukraine?Phil Snoreply@blogger.com