Tariffs

[free_electron]

[Electrodynamic]

https://theconversation.com/is-inequality-a-natural-phenomenon-thomas-piketty-argues-it-isnt-and-proposes-a-way-forward-240325

The article makes some very good points.

Most of the fallacies about wealth like the absurd "trickle down effect" are based on completely outdated theories. Most big tax breaks go towards automation killing countless jobs, stock buy backs and big bonuses for management.

It's wild how many are being duped so easily. Like the Musk fans crying about conspiracy theories like big brother watching, being chipped and the elite. Ignorant to the fact Musk is the elite, started Neuralink to literally chip you and AI/robots to replace your job and monitor you. Musk is literally doing all the stuff they are supposedly freaking out about,  . It's like the movie dumb and dumber... only dumber.

[tggzzz]

https://theconversation.com/is-inequality-a-natural-phenomenon-thomas-piketty-argues-it-isnt-and-proposes-a-way-forward-240325

The article makes some very good points.

Picketty makes the points better, of course. But his book is >750 pages plus online supplements => exhaustive (and exhausting!)

That's why his book is influential and lauded by many many people.

[tszaboo]

Interesting, the rules of Jante could be considered to be the cause of the crab effect.

The law of Jante seems misguided imo. "You are not to think you're anyone special, or that you're better than us." If they do not think any one is better than the group why would they think more non-better people is somehow better?, lol. This is just another flavor of populism imo.

Very similar to what were seeing in many countries at the moment. Entitled leaders from generational wealth who never worked a day in their life claiming to be a common man and victimized. It must be so hard being given hundreds of millions of dollars by your daddy.

It's a complete destruction of merit.
It's very much like 1984 or communism. An autocracy that tells you not to listen to other people, because they don't know more than you. Only listen to the state approved message.

[vk6zgo]

In my experience, "merit" translates to "drinks with the Boss"!

[tautech]

In my experience, "merit" translates to "drinks with the Boss"!

Not the Boss, but any chance of a drink and chat at Xmas when we are in Perth ?

[Electrodynamic]

tszaboo

It's a complete destruction of merit.
It's very much like 1984 or communism. An autocracy that tells you not to listen to other people, because they don't know more than you. Only listen to the state approved message.

Exactly and it shows a complete lack of reasoning skills by those following these misguided schemes.

They claim nobody should think they are better but then follow a person they claim is much better or even god like. Which is just a clever way of believing they are superior but pretending they are not. We are humble, that's why we follow this psychotic autocrat doing all these hateful and evil things to other people, it's because were humble,  .

[Sorama]

The "crab effect," also known as crab mentality, describes a behavior where individuals in a group try to pull down those who are succeeding or trying to improve, often out of jealousy or insecurity. This phenomenon is illustrated by the metaphor of crabs in a bucket, where one crab trying to escape is pulled back down by others, ensuring that no one escapes.

Aha. Now i know there is a name for this illness. This has been irritating me since i was 7 or 8 years old.
There is a mass of people that shoot anything new down because they have no grasp on it. They see everything as either a threat or a pile of extra work to deal with. Except smart phones. Those are useful and they need always the latest and greatest to sit in their bucket playing crappy bird and watch youtwitfacetock and keep up with the crapdancians.

What you are describing here, is not the crab effect.

Well don't leave us hanging.....

Either tell us;

a) what the correct label for the phenomenon is called, or
b) what the term crab effect actually refers to, or
c) whether the described phenomenon is a real or imagined phenomenon, or
d) all of the above.

Don’t you see the difference

Interesting non-response.  You choose to interrogate me, whilst leaving the forum hanging without a definitive answer.

Nope, I did not.
You did asked a question, or should I say word game?
Maybe you should go annoying people somewhere else.
Again. 

[Andy Chee]

The "crab effect," also known as crab mentality, describes a behavior where individuals in a group try to pull down those who are succeeding or trying to improve, often out of jealousy or insecurity. This phenomenon is illustrated by the metaphor of crabs in a bucket, where one crab trying to escape is pulled back down by others, ensuring that no one escapes.

Aha. Now i know there is a name for this illness. This has been irritating me since i was 7 or 8 years old.
There is a mass of people that shoot anything new down because they have no grasp on it. They see everything as either a threat or a pile of extra work to deal with. Except smart phones. Those are useful and they need always the latest and greatest to sit in their bucket playing crappy bird and watch youtwitfacetock and keep up with the crapdancians.

What you are describing here, is not the crab effect.

Well don't leave us hanging.....

Either tell us;

a) what the correct label for the phenomenon is called, or
b) what the term crab effect actually refers to, or
c) whether the described phenomenon is a real or imagined phenomenon, or
d) all of the above.

Don’t you see the difference

Interesting non-response.  You choose to interrogate me, whilst leaving the forum hanging without a definitive answer.

Nope, I did not.
You did asked a question, or should I say word game?
Maybe you show go annoying people somewhere else.
Again.

Ad hominem, again.

[Sorama]

No, factual again.

I did nor ask a question, you did.
Or don’t you see that difference neither?

Never mind, I know the answer.

[Marco]

As far as I know, there's no gold-backed currency in the world. The US has long held a privilege and a certain amount of power because international trade is often in the USD. China would like to take that position as it would enjoy similar power.

Having your currency be the main liquid store of global savings is not really something which grants power, it's something which grants luxury. It actually erodes power.

Xi isn't really interested in that, he wants autarky for China and dependence for the rest of the world ... allowing the Chinese to live a live of luxury is more of a danger than an aim, makes them harder to rule. Maybe he thinks that eventually when the industrial base everywhere else is laid waste and the Chinese are sufficiently controlled by a surveillance state, he can allow them some more leeway, but for now, he wants them working 80 hours a week with little time to consider politics.

[Electrodynamic]

As far as I know, there's no gold-backed currency in the world. The US has long held a privilege and a certain amount of power because international trade is often in the USD. China would like to take that position as it would enjoy similar power.

Having your currency be the main liquid store of global savings is not really something which grants power, it's something which grants luxury. It actually erodes power.

Xi isn't really interested in that, he wants autarky for China and dependence for the rest of the world ... allowing the Chinese to live a live of luxury is more of a danger than an aim, makes them harder to rule. Maybe he thinks that eventually when the industrial base everywhere else is laid waste and the Chinese are sufficiently controlled by a surveillance state, he can allow them some more leeway, but for now, he wants them working 80 hours a week with little time to consider politics.

I disagree, it's well known the U.S. and many other countries were printing mountains of near worthless paper money with no tangible backing. The fake money was loaned to large corporations which then used it to buy real assets having real value from other countries. Think about that, they are buying trillions of dollars of foreign assets using something which has no tangible value. It's like me buying your house with monopoly money.

As well, now that most have realized it's a scam and are pulling out they invented another fake currency called cryptocurrency to replace it.

It's amazing the majority of people understand so little about currency and trade. A currency has one purpose and that is to facilitate the equitable trade of goods and services. Where some currency and more so cryptocurrency is nothing but a pyramid scheme. The more people who want it the more it's supposedly worth which is insane. In fact, we have proof it's a pyramid scheme because there are teenagers who bought crypto and are now billionaires who built nothing, traded nothing and created zero value. The only real skill involved is buying it and hoping someone is even more gullible to pay more down the road... it's a pyramid scheme.

China is smart and are not buying into the bs. They banned cryptocurrency trading, mining, and related financial services. Nobody comes into their country and starts buying real assets with an inherently worthless fake currency. Meanwhile in other countries power rates are going through the roof and crypto mining can use up to 10% of the grid power. This is why China will eventually dominate the markets and be the global currency imo.

[tggzzz]

As far as I know, there's no gold-backed currency in the world. The US has long held a privilege and a certain amount of power because international trade is often in the USD. China would like to take that position as it would enjoy similar power.

Having your currency be the main liquid store of global savings is not really something which grants power, it's something which grants luxury. It actually erodes power.

Xi isn't really interested in that, he wants autarky for China and dependence for the rest of the world ... allowing the Chinese to live a live of luxury is more of a danger than an aim, makes them harder to rule. Maybe he thinks that eventually when the industrial base everywhere else is laid waste and the Chinese are sufficiently controlled by a surveillance state, he can allow them some more leeway, but for now, he wants them working 80 hours a week with little time to consider politics.

I disagree, it's well known the U.S. and many other countries were printing mountains of near worthless paper money with no tangible backing. The fake money was loaned to large corporations which then used it to buy real assets having real value from other countries. Think about that, they are buying trillions of dollars of foreign assets using something which has no tangible value. It's like me buying your house with monopoly money.

As well, now that most have realized it's a scam and are pulling out they invented another fake currency called cryptocurrency to replace it.

It's amazing the majority of people understand so little about currency and trade. A currency has one purpose and that is to facilitate the equitable trade of goods and services. Where some currency and more so cryptocurrency is nothing but a pyramid scheme. The more people who want it the more it's supposedly worth which is insane. In fact, we have proof it's a pyramid scheme because there are teenagers who bought crypto and are now billionaires who built nothing, traded nothing and created zero value. The only real skill involved is buying it and hoping someone is even more gullible to pay more down the road... it's a pyramid scheme.

China is smart and are not buying into the bs. They banned cryptocurrency trading, mining, and related financial services. Nobody comes into their country and starts buying real assets with an inherently worthless fake currency. Meanwhile in other countries power rates are going through the roof and crypto mining can use up to 10% of the grid power. This is why China will eventually dominate the markets and be the global currency imo.

See, you can use the quote button when you want to, cf https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/ai-intelligence/msg6073633/#msg6073633

[tggzzz]

A currency has one purpose and that is to facilitate the equitable trade of goods and services.

I agree with you that cryptocurrencies are not to be trusted, for many reasons.

Equitable trading and currencies are orthogonal concepts; one neither implies nor requires the other.

The only necessary attribute of a currency is printed on UK banknotes: "I promise to pay the bearer on demand...". If people believe the promise then the currency has value. If people don't believe the promise then the currency is valueless, e.g. the forest leaves in https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy#Chapter_32

[Jan Steinman]

Back to the topic of the thread…

I just bought a USED $1,700 JAPANESE camera lens from an American via eBay. Nothing against the seller; he was great, and is caught in "the system" like the rest of us.

It arrived with $687 of customs duty and brokerage fees. (Yea, I know Canada did that, due to retaliatory tariffs.)

That same day, I received a $500 item from China. No fees whatsoever.

I will not be buying ANYTHING from the US until the mango moron stops his idiotic quest to make Canada "the 51st state" via "economic pressure".

US voters need to get their act together. This sort of insanity doesn't happen in countries with parliamentary systems — in those, every single member of the cabinet would have to have been elected to parliament first. Unlike the US, where tariff policy was made up by "Ron Vara", an imaginary person. (https://youtu.be/MJbZCbBLqkk, scroll to 6:13)

I don't dislike Americans. ("Why, some of my best friends are American!")

But it's like the kid you used to pal around with beat you up and stole your lunch money.

[Marco]

The fake money was loaned to large corporations which then used it to buy real assets having real value from other countries.

The fracking boom gave them more power than cheap foreign oil ever did, having the reserve currency without being sufficiently protectionist is a slow death for economic power.

China exchanges more goods for paper than any nation on earth ... look at that trade balance. They don't sell ownership of their productive assets for paper, but they'll gladly stockpile dollar and Euro bonds for now rather than consuming their own output.

[PlainName]

Unlike the US, where tariff policy was made up by "Ron Vara", an imaginary person. (https://youtu.be/MJbZCbBLqkk, scroll to 6:13)

Holy shit!!

<speechless>

[Cyclotron]

It looks like the US administration and Australia have made an agreement on REEs. Between extraction deals and more facilities being built to process them, China's REE card has an expiration date.

Still another a couple more weeks before the two leaders meet in South Korea on Oct 31.

[Marco]

Also, Trump doesn't have to worry about re-election and any president after Trump can blame everything on Trump for a couple years.

It's really the worst time to try to blackmail them into submission.

[themadhippy]

It looks like the US administration and Australia have made an agreement on REEs. Between extraction deals and more facilities being built to process

not going to happen over night thought

Also, Trump doesn't have to worry about re-election and any president after Trump can blame everything on Trump for a couple years.

Thats what the constitution says,but whens that stopped him

[tggzzz]

Also, Trump doesn't have to worry about re-election and any president after Trump can blame everything on Trump for a couple years.

Thats what the constitution says,but whens that stopped him

I'm not sure who you are quoting, but T'rump has explicitly stated there are ways around the two term limitation.

One obvious mechanism would be to have someone else be elected POTUS with T'rump standing as VP. Then that person resigns, and the VP becomes POTUS. Again.

Or T'rump could just take a leaf out of his BFF's playbook. Putin was also barred from a third term, so he circumvented that with his "tandemocracy" with Medvedev https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medvedev%E2%80%93Putin_tandemocracy

Either would be more than acceptable to the people who want to destroy peoples' faith in democratic institutions.

[AVGresponding]

Also, Trump doesn't have to worry about re-election and any president after Trump can blame everything on Trump for a couple years.

Thats what the constitution says,but whens that stopped him

I'm not sure who you are quoting, but T'rump has explicitly stated there are ways around the two term limitation.

One obvious mechanism would be to have someone else be elected POTUS with T'rump standing as VP. Then that person resigns, and the VP becomes POTUS. Again.

Or T'rump could just take a leaf out of his BFF's playbook. Putin was also barred from a third term, so he circumvented that with his "tandemocracy" with Medvedev https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medvedev%E2%80%93Putin_tandemocracy

Either would be more than acceptable to the people who want to destroy peoples' faith in democratic institutions.

A declaration of Martial Law to deal with an "epidemic of crime" would sidestep a need for another election altogether. Then there's his addiction to Executive Orders to do things they weren't intended for; removing the two term limit seems a likely candidate.

[tggzzz]

Also, Trump doesn't have to worry about re-election and any president after Trump can blame everything on Trump for a couple years.

Thats what the constitution says,but whens that stopped him

I'm not sure who you are quoting, but T'rump has explicitly stated there are ways around the two term limitation.

One obvious mechanism would be to have someone else be elected POTUS with T'rump standing as VP. Then that person resigns, and the VP becomes POTUS. Again.

Or T'rump could just take a leaf out of his BFF's playbook. Putin was also barred from a third term, so he circumvented that with his "tandemocracy" with Medvedev https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medvedev%E2%80%93Putin_tandemocracy

Either would be more than acceptable to the people who want to destroy peoples' faith in democratic institutions.

A declaration of Martial Law to deal with an "epidemic of crime" would sidestep a need for another election altogether. Then there's his addiction to Executive Orders to do things they weren't intended for; removing the two term limit seems a likely candidate.

I couldn't comment, since I'm not an expert in USA constitutional law. Even if I was, that knowledge would have become irrelevant.

[Cyclotron]

Also, Trump doesn't have to worry about re-election and any president after Trump can blame everything on Trump for a couple years.

Thats what the constitution says,but whens that stopped him

I'm not sure who you are quoting, but T'rump has explicitly stated there are ways around the two term limitation.

One obvious mechanism would be to have someone else be elected POTUS with T'rump standing as VP. Then that person resigns, and the VP becomes POTUS. Again.

Or T'rump could just take a leaf out of his BFF's playbook. Putin was also barred from a third term, so he circumvented that with his "tandemocracy" with Medvedev https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medvedev%E2%80%93Putin_tandemocracy

Either would be more than acceptable to the people who want to destroy peoples' faith in democratic institutions.

A declaration of Martial Law to deal with an "epidemic of crime" would sidestep a need for another election altogether. Then there's his addiction to Executive Orders to do things they weren't intended for; removing the two term limit seems a likely candidate.

Maybe he can just say he's a different person and even female. That way if elected he could be the first female US president.

[SteveThackery]

I'm not sure who you are quoting, but T'rump has explicitly stated there are ways around the two term limitation.

Yes. The constitution says that nobody may be elected to the office more than twice. Even though I think the intent is clear, it is most unfortunate wording and is obviously (to me) a mistake. Thanks to that mistake, Trump might be able to continue in the office after his "official" term ends.