American Economics Thread

[siegecrossbow]

In terms of raw material it isn’t that challenging for the US to restore roads since much of aging asphalt could actually be recycled on the spot. The problem is with labor and local red tape.

 

[james smith esq]

The fact of the matter is that the poorest in the US have been neglected for decades. If people are not going back to work with new unemployment benefits that simply states that the wages offered by the market are not competitive. Why would I work full-time when I could make more money simply staying at home on unemployment? Your employer must not really value your time if they are offering less than unemployment benefits provide!

This graph illustrates the plight of a large segment of the US working population:

And, look at who’s administration it was when this trend became entrenched!

 

[voyager1]

This graph illustrates the plight of a large segment of the US working population:
View attachment 72135

Part of it would happen due to globalisation (other countries would take cheap manufacturing), but the US also failed to distribute the enormous wealth created by the huge export markets of the world created by it.

Which is why all this "blame China" talk is misguided.
If the wealth gained, was distributed correctly the whole US would be rich by exporting to the enormous and growing Chinese economy. Instead the US' Elites (corporates) kept everything to themselves.

An utopian alternate history would have seen every single US citizen wealthy beyond imaginationation if the corporations, along with their politician lackeys, didn't betray the common people

So, the American people should not blame other countries and instead focus internally to find out who fleeced their money

 

[AndrewS]

Not necessarily 'cheaper' at ground level, railway lines need small gradients and China builds its railway lines on elevated platforms rather than using embankments, because its more space efficient. Its roads also makes heavy use of platforms as illustrated in the picture which is a Chinese road and as we're talking about China's steel use not somewhere else, that kind of matters!

If I ignored China's construction practices and then make sweeping statements about what happens in the rest of world yeah I can claim they make negligible steel use too!

My claim of negligible steel use from highway and railway construction is based on the numbers. Sources have been provided.
I had a look at this some months back in the context of Chinese steel production using Australian iron ore imports.

All you have is pictures of a road in a hilly area. You can see the area is sparsely populated, as expected in a hilly area.
So how common are these sorts of Chinese highways in real life?

Where are your numbers?

 

[spring2017]

This graph illustrates the plight of a large segment of the US working population:
View attachment 72135
And, look at who’s administration it was when this trend became entrenched!

While the Republicans are definitely on side of the big capital, Democrats are no friends of the working people. Both are responsible for decades of wage stagnation in the U.S., through countless administrations between the two.

They are the twin parties of the capital, two faces of the same coin. Sort of "good cop / bad cop" to fool the masses and give them false hope.

 

[caudaceus]

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

"A bridge collapse has caused a train to derail near Sibley, Iowa Sunday afternoon"

Joe's infra plan become more necessary than ever

 

[zbb]

While the Republicans are definitely on side of the big capital, Democrats are no friends of the working people. Both are responsible for decades of wage stagnation in the U.S., through countless administrations between the two.

They are the twin parties of the capital, two faces of the same coin. Sort of "good cop / bad cop" to fool the masses and give them false hope.

As the saying goes, you can change the party but not the policies.

 

[Deleted member 15949]

This graph illustrates the plight of a large segment of the US working population:
View attachment 72135
And, look at who’s administration it was when this trend became entrenched!

Stop this malpractice that deliberately confuses CPI and PCE

 

[hkbc]

My claim of negligible steel use from highway and railway construction is based on the numbers. Sources have been provided.
I had a look at this some months back in the context of Chinese steel production using Australian iron ore imports.

All you have is pictures of a road in a hilly area. You can see the area is sparsely populated, as expected in a hilly area.
So how common are these sorts of Chinese highways in real life?

Where are your numbers?

I don't want this to be a slanging match but my original premise is that as the highways and rail network is close to completion the amount of steel it will consume will peter off, you then jumped in and said roads and railways don't use much steel to which I begged to differ.

Its precisely the fact that China builds highways to link places in the middle of nowhere using elevated steel construction is the reason that its steel consumption for building roads is not the same as other places.

Furthermore, you keep going on about construction is building a bridge considered 'construction' or are those 'negligible' steel consumers too because if there's no roads or railway lines there's no need to build those bridges and I can do a full set of cable stay and suspension bridges in hilly areas in the middle of nowhere that also use 'negligible' amounts of steel too to illustrate just how so very wrong my premise is....

I am going to leave it there you can send whatever response you care for, I am done debating someone who's planted a flag on a hill and is happy to die there.

 

[AndrewS]

I don't want this to be a slanging match but my original premise is that as the highways and rail network is close to completion the amount of steel it will consume will peter off, you then jumped in and said roads and railways don't use much steel to which I begged to differ.

Its precisely the fact that China builds highways to link places in the middle of nowhere using elevated steel construction is the reason that its steel consumption for building roads is not the same as other places.

Furthermore, you keep going on about construction is building a bridge considered 'construction' or are those 'negligible' steel consumers too because if there's no roads or railway lines there's no need to build those bridges and I can do a full set of cable stay and suspension bridges in hilly areas in the middle of nowhere that also use 'negligible' amounts of steel too to illustrate just how so very wrong my premise is....

I am going to leave it there you can send whatever response you care for, I am done debating someone who's planted a flag on a hill and is happy to die there.

I'm happy on my hill because I have the data and analysis to back it up.
Show me contrary data and I'll be happy to change my mind.

All you have is an opinion.

Let's leave it at that