This is pro-Trump propaganda for what is arguably the dumbest trade war in history by perhaps the most incompetent people ever to helm a global superpower. Let's start with this:
> In 1950, according to the World Bank, 62.12 percent of the world’s population was living in extreme poverty. In 2017, the percentage had fallen to 9.18 percent.
How did that happen, exactly? Let's do some math. In 1950 the world population was ~2.5B [1]. In 2017 it as ~7.6B. 62% of 2.5B is 1.5B. 9.18% of 7.6B is 700M. What happened in that time? Oh that's right, China lifted 800M people out of extreme poverty [2]. The author's numbers may be off because I've seen other studies that show the number of people in extreme poverty went up if you remove China from the equation entirely.
Best case for the author is that China is solely responsible for the decrease in global extreme poverty. But there's no mention of that because the success of a pluralistic yet authoritarian regime with a command economy is not something neoliberals ever want to acknowledge let alone talk about.
Oh, as an aside, the author is a climate change denialist [3].
Another choice quote:
> The U.S., for instance, has a 2.5 percent tariff on cars imported from Germany, while Germany has a ten percent tariff on American cars. In addition, Germany’s value-added tax is remitted on exports but charged on imports. As a result, while the logos of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen are seen all over American roads, those of Ford and General Motors are a rare sight in Germany. And China, as already noted, is far worse, a world outlier, in terms of its nefarious trade policies.
For an economist who cannot possibly not know better, this is just dishonest. Germany charges VAT on all cars sold in Germany, whether they're domestic or foreign, just like US states charge sales tax in exactly the same way.
Also, where are those cars produced? A lot of foreign brands are produced in the US eg BMW's plant in South Carolina [4].
Lastly, this whole "they don't buy our cars" talking point comes straight from the administration when a lot of American cars are simply not suitable for use in Europe. A Ford F150 requires a commercial driving license in much of Europe. Also, try and imagine such a beast navigating the narrow, winding strets of a French village.
There's also no mention of how the US outright bans Japanese auto imports where the Japanese produce some of the most reliably and commercially successful trucks on the planet eg the Toyota Hilux.
This thread was originally submitted 2 days ago, and quickly flagged from what I could tell. Now the moderation team has deemed it necessary to give it a second chance and get it up again? That is a choice that to me is as baffling as it is blatantly partisan.
> In 1950, according to the World Bank, 62.12 percent of the world’s population was living in extreme poverty. In 2017, the percentage had fallen to 9.18 percent.
How did that happen, exactly? Let's do some math. In 1950 the world population was ~2.5B [1]. In 2017 it as ~7.6B. 62% of 2.5B is 1.5B. 9.18% of 7.6B is 700M. What happened in that time? Oh that's right, China lifted 800M people out of extreme poverty [2]. The author's numbers may be off because I've seen other studies that show the number of people in extreme poverty went up if you remove China from the equation entirely.
Best case for the author is that China is solely responsible for the decrease in global extreme poverty. But there's no mention of that because the success of a pluralistic yet authoritarian regime with a command economy is not something neoliberals ever want to acknowledge let alone talk about.
Oh, as an aside, the author is a climate change denialist [3].
Another choice quote:
> The U.S., for instance, has a 2.5 percent tariff on cars imported from Germany, while Germany has a ten percent tariff on American cars. In addition, Germany’s value-added tax is remitted on exports but charged on imports. As a result, while the logos of Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Volkswagen are seen all over American roads, those of Ford and General Motors are a rare sight in Germany. And China, as already noted, is far worse, a world outlier, in terms of its nefarious trade policies.
For an economist who cannot possibly not know better, this is just dishonest. Germany charges VAT on all cars sold in Germany, whether they're domestic or foreign, just like US states charge sales tax in exactly the same way.
Also, where are those cars produced? A lot of foreign brands are produced in the US eg BMW's plant in South Carolina [4].
Lastly, this whole "they don't buy our cars" talking point comes straight from the administration when a lot of American cars are simply not suitable for use in Europe. A Ford F150 requires a commercial driving license in much of Europe. Also, try and imagine such a beast navigating the narrow, winding strets of a French village.
There's also no mention of how the US outright bans Japanese auto imports where the Japanese produce some of the most reliably and commercially successful trucks on the planet eg the Toyota Hilux.
[1]: https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/world-populat...
[2]: https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2022/04/01/l...
[3]: https://www.commentary.org/john-steele-gordon/climate-global...
[4]: https://www.bmwgroup-werke.com/spartanburg/en.html