President Obama to water down 'Buy American' plan after EU trade war threat

[SUBMAN1]

Typical.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5655115.ece

-S

[Hitman]

Autharchy and localization is good as it makes countries independent from others; I wish it would be like that in the whole world and all countries would be sustainable per themselves. But they aren't, and going backwards in the current globalization status is nearly impossible, so better stop dreaming about it :hmmm:

[nikimcbee]

Typical.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article5655115.ece

-S

They were talking about this on the radio today. Part of me is worried because bo caved (I think he caved, maybe it was still talk) so quickly. Nice to see someone with backbone:yawn: leading us. And on the other hand, you have the US unions that got bo elected. The first thing he does is stab them in the back to appease foreign interests.

Suckers.

[gandalf71]

Hey guys where are you going? Back to 19th century? :haha:

You are reaping the fruits from the globalization of economy, why do you complain? This was advanced and enforced by the US in the last 60 years in a leading position. And guess what now happens? Yes it hurts!

But what choice do you have, OK you can go back to the ages of national protectionism, but have you ever thought about where this money (and $800 Billion is a hole bunch of it!) is coming from? Turn around and watch over the ocean in the other direction...yes China! China is sitting on your money!
And if you exclude the RoW from your markets, the RoW´s readiness to invest in new US state bonds (this is where the money for "Mr. Obama´s save the economy plan" will come from) will be as expected very limited.
This would cause the US $ to go into a Hyperflation and your money won´t be worth the paper printed on.
So get your heads up and take a look over the edge of your plate!

The only chance that this crysis will not go into a global economic disaster, is that the world trade will be kept alive, there is no way with or without somebody, there is only a way with us all together!

br
Michael

[AntEater]

Add to that the fact that "buy american" in strict sense means that some things needed for infrastructure will simply be not available.
There are actually things the US industry simply cannot produce anymore.
There's no more US manufacturer for electric trains, for example.
Unless you pull a FDR and open up new state sponsored factories for anything, the american companies will have to subcontract to foreign firms anyway, which will be a change by name only.

[antikristuseke]

Add to that the fact that "buy american" in strict sense means that some things needed for infrastructure will simply be not available.
There are actually things the US industry simply cannot produce anymore.
There's no more US manufacturer for electric trains, for example.
Unless you pull a FDR and open up new state sponsored factories for anything, the american companies will have to subcontract to foreign firms anyway, which will be a change by name only.

Never let reality get in the way of political spin.

[Skybird]

Never let reality get in the way of political spin.
Yes. In fact the EU did not threaten a trade war, but warned of international trade relations detoriating even further over protectionist policies - something that has been one of the major drives of the great economy crisis early last century.

Headline with friendly permission from The Sun.

However, populistic calls for protectionistic isolationism are becoming louder everywhere, not only from some politicians but especially from the streets as well. See it as the pendulum of emotional feelings now swinging from extremist globalisation to the other side of total isolationism. The trade and job structures established by this damn globalisation thing certainly are not healthy in a time like this, nor have they been before, in fact they caused havoc in the West, but simply abandoning them now and behaving as if they have not already tremendously restructured the shape of Western and other nations, is foolish. If globalisation is to be corrected or reversed, simply switching all switches to "Halt" will not work and will do a lot of damage. The deconstrucxtion would be needed to be a process of reshaping other structures again and adapting to them, like forming globalisation was such a process as well.

I am all for major corrections to this damn globalisation thing. But not in the form of narrow-minded short-sighted protectionism, it will not work and do more bad than good. Compare it to a diver who went to 90 m and found out he does not want to be there, and comes up: if he does it in a single climb, he will suffer health damages and maybe even will die. He needs to take pauses at various depths, no matter how urgently he desires to get to the surface again.

[antikristuseke]

Globalisation is inevitable. Trying to stop it is like trying to hold back the time with a sheet of A4 paper. Sure there are things that need tweaking, but globalisation is not going anywhere.

[AVGWarhawk]

Yes sir! Buy American....it all comes from China anyway:salute:

[SteamWake]

Your dissapointed that B O 'caved' and capitulated?

Wow are you in for a dissapointing 4 years.

Actually Im supprised the language was in there to begin with.

I think just about any 'new' president enters the office full of ideals then reality starts to set in.

"You cant please all of the people all of the time" :03:

[AntEater]

Problem is, in a globalized world, stimulus packages could be mutually supportive.
That works in EU, as countries are generally banned from excluding contractors from other EU countries.
That works with Chinese and EU stimulus packages, as China can supply cheapo stuff like steel or concrete to Europe and Europe can supply China with things like high speed trains or traffic control systems. Russia should be a similar story.
Problem is, the US has nothing to contribute to stimulus packages of other countries.
Few countries are buying weapons to stimulate the economy and the few that do (France, for example) buy their own weapons.
And the main US industry (not financial or IT) exports are weapons and airplanes, both of which are not exactly in high demand right now.
I'm sure the US construction industry can get jobs done, but the only foreign countries they get contracts in are those brokered by the Pentagon.
But if they do it right, the US might be able to reverse the trend and start rebuilding the industrial base.
If Obama gets that done, he might live up to the hype yet...

All western countries deindustrialized themselves in recent years, but the US and the UK are worst off, even though Belgium and the Baltic states might be not too far behind.

I often think that those proponents of globalization and deregulation are actually the worst anti-americans ever, even though most of them are from the right wing area.
I mean they basically squandered away the US' and the west's industrial edge for private profit.
The US with its military was just the muscle they needed, but deep down neo-liberalism is a form of internationalist anarchism.
A rich man's anarchism, but still exactly that.

[Skybird]

(...) but deep down neo-liberalism is a form of internationalist anarchism.
A rich man's anarchism, but still exactly that.

:up: :yep:
Sometimes you drive me crazy, but sometimes i wonder if maybe we have identical genes!?:)

[XabbaRus]

Oh please, get over it. That is the most crass thing I have seen written.

If the EU suddenly went Buy EU only there would be a sh** storm coming from DC...

In fact I think there was concerning Airbus.

[Skybird]

Oh please, get over it. That is the most crass thing I have seen written.

If the EU suddenly went Buy EU only there would be a sh** storm coming from DC...

In fact I think there was concerning Airbus.
In fact, most lobbyists in Brussel are American lobbyists in that they work for American customers and companies, making sure to chnage unwanted laws and legislations in the EU that American companies do not want to be in place, and watering them down, if not preventing them. America is the mother of all lobbyism, so to speak. ;)

[fatty]

But I thought free markets and economic liberalism were good? Oh I see, they're only bad when Barack Obama pursues them :rotfl:

This is not really a zero sum game. The trade war and protectionist retaliation threat are serious ones. You can't expect the rest of the world to buy your junk if you won't buy theirs. Even if other nations do not pursue retaliatory policies, if you shut out the EU, Canada, and Mexico obviously they will suffer and won't have any money or jobs to afford to buy American goods and services. Either way, the impact then finds its way back to U.S exports. But before you start feeling the effects, illegal immigrant spikes because people start fleeing their countries in droves to the U.S. to find subsistence employment. There's no winning or losing in the global economic feedback loop.

[nikimcbee]

So, what I learned from this thread is that the honeymoon is over.:woot:

[Zachstar]

Any "buy US" Campaign is worthless. They tried it once before and now it is a joke to hammer unions with.

I for one am not fooled by such a campaign. American companies have shipped over so much workforce to cheaper nations that you have no clue if it is 100 percent USA or not. Even cars.

Honda and Toyota are reeling right now but unlike the big 3 they are prepared for economic emergencies. And instead of freaking out they went and spiced things up. A prius that will keep the interiors cool on a hot day? That will sell like hotcakes just like every vehicle with that feature. And most likely will be baselined in most of their stuff for now on.

Instead of talking tarrifs and new trade policies how about TOUGH new laws against companies like IBM which can be proven to have outsourced just to save some bucks?

[Enigma]

So, what I learned from this thread is that the honeymoon is over.:woot:

You know, it makes so much sense that that's what you learned from this thread. :haha: