[Peace-discuss] The money was there all along

[John W.]

On Fri, Oct 17, 2008 at 12:59 PM, Jenifer Cartwright <jencart13 at yahoo.com>wrote:

Right. So (excluding agricultural products, which I mentioned
> ironically) what DOES the US have to sell abroad these days to actually
> bring money into the country?? It's obvious we import and consume like
> mad... AND that there's no shortage of things needed in this country that
> would provide jobs (e g rebuilding ifrastructure) and reduce unemployment.
> But as to earning money nationally by selling goods and services -- what??
> how??
>  --Jenifer
>

1) We manufacture and sell weapons of war, as someone already pointed out.

2) While we don't corner the market as we used to, we still sell the world a
fair amount of commercial airplanes, Caterpillar tractors, computer servers
(I can't recall the brand), etc.

3) We're engaged in quite a number of joint ventures with foreign companies
such as the Japanese auto  manufacturers, where some aspect of the assembly
is performed here in the U.S.  However, much of the labor is performed by
robots, and human labor has been slashed to the bone.

4) We sell education, actually.  Our American university system is still
considered tops in the world, and a great many foreign students come here
for graduate study.  It amazes me, though, that we actually provide many of
the foreign grad students with financial aid, while our own American
undergraduates have a hard time getting any.

5) I'm sure there are a lot of things I'm omitting.  And I'm sure there are
charts out on the web someplace that depict in much greater detail what
America still produces and sells.  But it ain't what it used to be 30 or 40
years ago, that's for sure.

I'm reading a book by William Greider right now - for my money, he's one of
the all-time great economic historians - on the globalization of the
economy.  He claims that the globalization was inevitable, and had little to
do with, say, Reagan's economic policies.  I maintain, though, that the
economic policies of Reagan and his successors had a great deal to do with
the IMPACT of the inevitable globilization on the average American.

John Wason




>
> --- On *Fri, 10/17/08, E. Wayne Johnson <ewj at pigs.ag>* wrote:
>
> From: E. Wayne Johnson <ewj at pigs.ag>
> Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] The money was there all along
> To: jencart13 at yahoo.com
> Cc: "John W." <jbw292002 at gmail.com>, peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
> Date: Friday, October 17, 2008, 11:13 AM
>
>
> Wheat is fermentable just like corn but is not cost-effective even with the
> subsidy at the present market price.
> Actually grain prices have risen so high that even with the heavy subsidies
> some ethanol plants are starting to close their doors
> (which is a good thing) while others are continuing to operate.
>
> Soy oil can be burned directly in diesel engines as SVO (straight vegetable
> oil)
> but SVO needs heating in cold weather.  Soy oil is already
> hydrolysed and esterified to produce so-called "biodiesel".
>
> ...but Real productivity is what we need.
>
> Burning food for fuel is really not productivity, it's actually a
> non-productive process that turns a high neg-entropic product into
> something for a lower value use
> and it only works because of the government subsidy and mandate program.
> In a free market economy
> we would  only have ethanol from non-food sources or foodstuffs not
> suitable for consumption (moldy grains for instance).
>
> But it's not a problem of free markets vs managed economy.  The Chinese
> were smart enough to recognize the
> ethanol craze for the insanity that it was and is,  while the "money
> crooked fingers" of our "democratically elected government" saw
> great opportunity and still pushes biofuel even as it becomes obvious that
> it simply doesnt make any sense.
>
>
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