Tag Archives: washing machines

$817k Per Job

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From The New York Times:

“Former President Donald J. Trump is planning an aggressive expansion of his first-term efforts to upend America’s trade policies if he returns to power in 2025 — including imposing a new tax on “most imported goods” that would risk alienating allies and igniting a global trade war.”

The Former Guy is such a successful businessperson, and so rich, we should probably just trust that he knows what he’s doing.

The New York Times has the temerity to disagree with my assessment. They write:

“Evaluating the merits of Mr. Trump’s trade vision is complex because there could be multiple ripple effects, and he is seeking long-term changes. But many economic studies concluded that the tariffs he imposed as president cost American society more than the benefits they produced.

Research from economists at the Federal Reserve and the University of Chicago found that tariffs Mr. Trump imposed on washing machines in 2018 created about 1,800 jobs while raising the median prices consumers paid for new washers and dryers by $86 and $92 per unit. That spending added up to about $817,000 per job.”

Wait a minute. If the Former Guy is mistaken about tariffs, what else might he be getting wrong?

Poor Karl, His Tax Savings Could Be Erased

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Of course Karl Rove is down with Trump’s tax cuts.

“President Trump is justifiably proud of passing tax reform last December, telling audiences ‘because of our tax cuts, you can keep more of your hard-earned money.’ He’s right: American taxpayers will save $75 billion this year and $189 billion next year, according to the Joint Committee on Taxation.”

To which any thinking person should ask, “WHICH American taxpayers will save those estimated billions?” Rove leaves out that the savings are skewed to the New Aristocracy of which he is a charter member.

Proving he’s the exact kind of Establishment Republican the Trumpeters despise almost as much as Democrats, he notes that, given the evolving Trade War, Trump’s tax cuts will be cancelled out by higher prices on imports coupled with some job losses.

“Yet the president’s tariffs on imports could negate much of the tax relief he’s been bragging about. These levies are not paid by foreign countries or companies. They are passed on to American consumers in the form of higher prices for either foreign or U.S.-made goods.

The Trump tariffs are now clawing back tax savings at a rate of roughly $10.6 billion per year. The levies already in place include 25% on steel (imports in 2017 were an estimated $23.4 billion), 30% on solar panels ($8.5 billion), 10% on aluminum ($18 billion) and 20% on washing machines ($1.8 billion). That’s chump change compared with what may be coming.”

The harsher the left’s criticism of all things Trump, the more inclined Trumpeters are to blindly follow him. Eventually, inflation and increased outsourcing of manufacturing jobs will test their knee-jerk, self-sabotaging love. Right?

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