A question you can't ask the pros :-)

[johns]

I'm both .. homebuilder and pro. When buying computer(s) and parts
on the job, I always buy the SAME part, but at the lowest price, and/or
generally either go with a brand like HP or DELL. I buy in fairly large
quantities ( maybe 20 to 40 PCs at a time ), but I don't tend to look
for quantity price breaks. I look more for quality, and to fit my needs
on the job. As a home builder, I might shop around the web a little
bit, but frankly I'd rather go to one of the local shops that sell
parts
for game computers, and nerd with the guys. I try to buy from them
for my home game box. However, when I try to get something like
a good video card or mobo bundle, their prices are just absurdly
high. When I tell them that I can buy the same product off the web
for $100 less, they say they simply cannot afford to give me that
price. When I say something like, "aren't you buying wholesale?",
they tell me that when I buy from Mwave or NewEgg, I am also
buying at their wholesale prices. Huh ????????????????????
Aren't there laws about this? They say they don't know, but they
sure would like to sell me 40 computers. So last night I'm watching
TV, and a Senator says that the problem is this: READ SLOWLY!
Asian governments are price supporting their products when they
come into the United States. In other words, when they send a
product over here to sell, and it has to compete with a local
product that sells for $400, the Asian Governments will give their
vendor a price support of say $100, so that the vendor can sell
it in the USA for $300. Not only that, but the Asian product can
even be warehoused in the USA, to shorten order and delivery
time to the degree that it is not an issue. I don't see how our
Federal Government can call this "competition" that is good for
us. The only way "competition" is good, is when it is for real
products. We make a CPU ... They make a CPU ... the customer
decides which one is best based on what it can do for him.
There is no competition here. I .. and all of us ... are simply
buying wholesale from order houses, and totally bypassing
the local job market. So the question: Why does not our
Federal Government price support our local products to
compete with Foreign Markets? Could the answer be that
we have no local products? Or what? That Senator was talking
about cars. A Toyota is price supported. A Ford is not. That
immediately made me think, "Well why would I want to buy
a piece of junk like a Ford SUV, when I can buy a Toyota for
less and get better gas milage, and at the same time not
have to set foot in a Ford Repair shop where I know I'm going
to get screwed. The only way I would buy a Ford, and take
it to a Ford Mechanic is if I could stand there with a Police
Officer and a Lawyer while the Ford Mechanic worked on
MY car. I think we are doubly damned. Foreign products
are price supported .. and worse, they are quality products
that for the most part help keep us out of the hands of
local "businessmen".

johns

 

[Doug B Taylor]

I'm both .. homebuilder and pro. When buying computer(s) and parts
on the job, I always buy the SAME part, but at the lowest price, and/or
generally either go with a brand like HP or DELL. I buy in fairly large
quantities ( maybe 20 to 40 PCs at a time ), but I don't tend to look
for quantity price breaks. I look more for quality, and to fit my needs
on the job. As a home builder, I might shop around the web a little
bit, but frankly I'd rather go to one of the local shops that sell
parts
for game computers, and nerd with the guys. I try to buy from them
for my home game box. However, when I try to get something like
a good video card or mobo bundle, their prices are just absurdly
high. When I tell them that I can buy the same product off the web
for $100 less, they say they simply cannot afford to give me that
price. When I say something like, "aren't you buying wholesale?",
they tell me that when I buy from Mwave or NewEgg, I am also
buying at their wholesale prices. Huh ????????????????????
Aren't there laws about this? They say they don't know, but they
sure would like to sell me 40 computers. So last night I'm watching
TV, and a Senator says that the problem is this: READ SLOWLY!
Asian governments are price supporting their products when they
come into the United States. In other words, when they send a
product over here to sell, and it has to compete with a local
product that sells for $400, the Asian Governments will give their
vendor a price support of say $100, so that the vendor can sell
it in the USA for $300. Not only that, but the Asian product can
even be warehoused in the USA, to shorten order and delivery
time to the degree that it is not an issue. I don't see how our
Federal Government can call this "competition" that is good for
us. The only way "competition" is good, is when it is for real
products. We make a CPU ... They make a CPU ... the customer
decides which one is best based on what it can do for him.
There is no competition here. I .. and all of us ... are simply
buying wholesale from order houses, and totally bypassing
the local job market. So the question: Why does not our
Federal Government price support our local products to
compete with Foreign Markets? Could the answer be that
we have no local products? Or what? That Senator was talking
about cars. A Toyota is price supported. A Ford is not. That
immediately made me think, "Well why would I want to buy
a piece of junk like a Ford SUV, when I can buy a Toyota for
less and get better gas milage, and at the same time not
have to set foot in a Ford Repair shop where I know I'm going
to get screwed. The only way I would buy a Ford, and take
it to a Ford Mechanic is if I could stand there with a Police
Officer and a Lawyer while the Ford Mechanic worked on
MY car. I think we are doubly damned. Foreign products
are price supported .. and worse, they are quality products
that for the most part help keep us out of the hands of
local "businessmen".

johns

Johns -

The short answer to your long question is that for the US government to
provide price supports, you have to pay MORE tax for the government to have
MORE money to support local manufacturer's so EXPORT markets get the same
products at lower than domestic market prices.

In theory, for the same product you would pay $400 upfront retail cost plus
$100 taxes (in one form or another) so that the manufacturer could sell the
product at $300 in an export market.

Price supports almost never make economic sense and can not be sustained in
the long run.

Regards,

Doug

 

[ff]

I'm both .. homebuilder and pro. When buying computer(s) and parts
on the job, I always buy the SAME part, but at the lowest price, and/or
generally either go with a brand like HP or DELL. I buy in fairly large
quantities ( maybe 20 to 40 PCs at a time ), but I don't tend to look
for quantity price breaks. I look more for quality, and to fit my needs
on the job. As a home builder, I might shop around the web a little
bit, but frankly I'd rather go to one of the local shops that sell
parts
for game computers, and nerd with the guys. I try to buy from them
for my home game box. However, when I try to get something like
a good video card or mobo bundle, their prices are just absurdly
high. When I tell them that I can buy the same product off the web
for $100 less, they say they simply cannot afford to give me that
price. When I say something like, "aren't you buying wholesale?",
they tell me that when I buy from Mwave or NewEgg, I am also
buying at their wholesale prices. Huh ????????????????????
Aren't there laws about this? They say they don't know, but they
sure would like to sell me 40 computers. So last night I'm watching
TV, and a Senator says that the problem is this: READ SLOWLY!
Asian governments are price supporting their products when they
come into the United States. In other words, when they send a
product over here to sell, and it has to compete with a local
product that sells for $400, the Asian Governments will give their
vendor a price support of say $100, so that the vendor can sell
it in the USA for $300. Not only that, but the Asian product can
even be warehoused in the USA, to shorten order and delivery
time to the degree that it is not an issue. I don't see how our
Federal Government can call this "competition" that is good for
us. The only way "competition" is good, is when it is for real
products. We make a CPU ... They make a CPU ... the customer
decides which one is best based on what it can do for him.
There is no competition here. I .. and all of us ... are simply
buying wholesale from order houses, and totally bypassing
the local job market. So the question: Why does not our
Federal Government price support our local products to
compete with Foreign Markets? Could the answer be that
we have no local products? Or what? That Senator was talking
about cars. A Toyota is price supported. A Ford is not. That
immediately made me think, "Well why would I want to buy
a piece of junk like a Ford SUV, when I can buy a Toyota for
less and get better gas milage, and at the same time not
have to set foot in a Ford Repair shop where I know I'm going
to get screwed. The only way I would buy a Ford, and take
it to a Ford Mechanic is if I could stand there with a Police
Officer and a Lawyer while the Ford Mechanic worked on
MY car. I think we are doubly damned. Foreign products
are price supported .. and worse, they are quality products
that for the most part help keep us out of the hands of
local "businessmen".

johns

That type of thing has been happening for years. Back in the 1980's,
Harley-Davidson Motor Co. appealed to the US Congress that it was facing
unfair competition from the Japanese motorcycle manufacturers. The term
was "dumping" and the foreign companies were selling their bikes cheap
in America just to corner the market. The government responded by
putting heavy tariffs on the J-bikes, and Harley was saved.

ff

 

[H. Seldon]

Doug B Taylor blurted this out on Sunday 2/19/2006

Johns -

The short answer to your long question is that for the US government to
provide price supports, you have to pay MORE tax for the government to have
MORE money to support local manufacturer's so EXPORT markets get the same
products at lower than domestic market prices.

In theory, for the same product you would pay $400 upfront retail cost plus
$100 taxes (in one form or another) so that the manufacturer could sell the
product at $300 in an export market.

Price supports almost never make economic sense and can not be sustained in
the long run.

Regards,

Doug

What you say is true as far as it goes but really overly simplistic.
You're missing the big picture. Take a look at the US electronic
component manufacturing industry as one small example. Whether it's
Texas Instruments, Intel or anyone else, the stuff is invariably
manufactured in Mexico, Malaysia, Tiawan or virtually any third world
country but almost *never* in the US. This is done because having the
item(s) manufactured in the United States, where labour costs may 30,
40 or even 50 dollars an hour, just cannot compete with salaries of 50
or 60 cents an hour in these foreign countries.

The tendency may be to conclude that these companies are a bunch of
greedy bastards. To some extent that may be true but ask youself,
would you be willing to pay 5 or 6 thousand dollars for an item that
you now pay 1 thousand dollars for? I don't think so. The starvation
wages paid to these folks overseas is what allows us north americans to
get the things of good quality we want, for the prices we think we
should have to pay.
Not only will these folks turn tis stuff out for less than we can make
on social assistance but, and this is the big factor, they can do it in
quantities that are orders of magnitude higher than in the US. Their
ability to produce is geared to their need to earn more in order to
survive.
It used to be called slave labor at one time.


Don't blame those poor bastards, we instituted the process as a means
to our own ends. So, either suck it up and buy domestic or live with
the alternative. You can't have it both ways.






--
_____________________________________________________________

That's all,


"Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get
you"

< Colin Sautar >

 

[Geoff]

Under the Bush plan, it is called the global economy. The only item where
this is not happening is with lcd/hd tv's. A company called 'five river
electronics' which makes parts for lcd tv's filed a protest with the us
government accusing china of dumping in the usa. After fighting it out in
court, walmart was on the side of china, the usa government found china was
dumping and erected tariffs.

The global economy is messing up many things for the usa and the government
is doing nothing about it. For example, companies are sending engineering
and computer jobs to india and china where they only have to pay 3 or 4 or 5
bucks an hour for workers there. The result is a drop in enrollment in
universities in these fields.

The ceo of intel told bush that this will start to affect the quality of
life in usa but intel off shores jobs as well.

I don't know the answer . . .

-g

 

[Charlie Wilkes]

I'm both .. homebuilder and pro. When buying computer(s) and parts
on the job, I always buy the SAME part, but at the lowest price, and/or
generally either go with a brand like HP or DELL. I buy in fairly large
quantities ( maybe 20 to 40 PCs at a time ), but I don't tend to look
for quantity price breaks. I look more for quality, and to fit my needs
on the job. As a home builder, I might shop around the web a little
bit, but frankly I'd rather go to one of the local shops that sell
parts
for game computers, and nerd with the guys. I try to buy from them
for my home game box. However, when I try to get something like
a good video card or mobo bundle, their prices are just absurdly
high. When I tell them that I can buy the same product off the web
for $100 less, they say they simply cannot afford to give me that
price. When I say something like, "aren't you buying wholesale?",
they tell me that when I buy from Mwave or NewEgg, I am also
buying at their wholesale prices. Huh ????????????????????
Aren't there laws about this? They say they don't know, but they
sure would like to sell me 40 computers. So last night I'm watching
TV, and a Senator says that the problem is this: READ SLOWLY!
Asian governments are price supporting their products when they
come into the United States. In other words, when they send a
product over here to sell, and it has to compete with a local
product that sells for $400, the Asian Governments will give their
vendor a price support of say $100, so that the vendor can sell
it in the USA for $300. Not only that, but the Asian product can
even be warehoused in the USA, to shorten order and delivery
time to the degree that it is not an issue. I don't see how our
Federal Government can call this "competition" that is good for
us. The only way "competition" is good, is when it is for real
products. We make a CPU ... They make a CPU ... the customer
decides which one is best based on what it can do for him.
There is no competition here. I .. and all of us ... are simply
buying wholesale from order houses, and totally bypassing
the local job market. So the question: Why does not our
Federal Government price support our local products to
compete with Foreign Markets? Could the answer be that
we have no local products? Or what? That Senator was talking
about cars. A Toyota is price supported. A Ford is not. That
immediately made me think, "Well why would I want to buy
a piece of junk like a Ford SUV, when I can buy a Toyota for
less and get better gas milage, and at the same time not
have to set foot in a Ford Repair shop where I know I'm going
to get screwed. The only way I would buy a Ford, and take
it to a Ford Mechanic is if I could stand there with a Police
Officer and a Lawyer while the Ford Mechanic worked on
MY car. I think we are doubly damned. Foreign products
are price supported .. and worse, they are quality products
that for the most part help keep us out of the hands of
local "businessmen".

johns

U.S. capitalism is different from the Asian model. American
corporations are narrowly focused on profit, but Asian companies have
broad obligations to vendors, employees, the government, customers,
etc., and that is why they get these subsidies.

It's not a great business for the small operator to try to make a
living. I think you can do it as a service provider, but not simply
as a vendor of hardware. Margins are too thin.

Charlie

 

[David Maynard]

Johns -

The short answer to your long question is that for the US government to
provide price supports, you have to pay MORE tax for the government to have
MORE money to support local manufacturer's so EXPORT markets get the same
products at lower than domestic market prices.

In theory, for the same product you would pay $400 upfront retail cost plus
$100 taxes (in one form or another) so that the manufacturer could sell the
product at $300 in an export market.

Price supports almost never make economic sense and can not be sustained in
the long run.

Regards,

Doug

I agree that price supports aren't the answer but, in reverse, they don't
have to be "sustained in the long run" in order to work. They only have to
be sustained long enough to cripple the targeted industry, as Japan did
with TV sets and other US domestic industries in the 60s, 70s and 80s. And
their consumers paid for it with prices for their own domestic TV sets
higher than the same ones sold in the US while blocking US sales in Japan.

 

[David Maynard]

I'm both .. homebuilder and pro. When buying computer(s) and parts
on the job, I always buy the SAME part, but at the lowest price, and/or
generally either go with a brand like HP or DELL. I buy in fairly large
quantities ( maybe 20 to 40 PCs at a time ), but I don't tend to look
for quantity price breaks. I look more for quality, and to fit my needs
on the job. As a home builder, I might shop around the web a little
bit, but frankly I'd rather go to one of the local shops that sell
parts
for game computers, and nerd with the guys. I try to buy from them
for my home game box. However, when I try to get something like
a good video card or mobo bundle, their prices are just absurdly
high. When I tell them that I can buy the same product off the web
for $100 less, they say they simply cannot afford to give me that
price. When I say something like, "aren't you buying wholesale?",
they tell me that when I buy from Mwave or NewEgg, I am also
buying at their wholesale prices. Huh ????????????????????
Aren't there laws about this? They say they don't know, but they
sure would like to sell me 40 computers. So last night I'm watching
TV, and a Senator says that the problem is this: READ SLOWLY!
Asian governments are price supporting their products when they
come into the United States. In other words, when they send a
product over here to sell, and it has to compete with a local
product that sells for $400, the Asian Governments will give their
vendor a price support of say $100, so that the vendor can sell
it in the USA for $300. Not only that, but the Asian product can
even be warehoused in the USA, to shorten order and delivery
time to the degree that it is not an issue. I don't see how our
Federal Government can call this "competition" that is good for
us. The only way "competition" is good, is when it is for real
products. We make a CPU ... They make a CPU ... the customer
decides which one is best based on what it can do for him.
There is no competition here. I .. and all of us ... are simply
buying wholesale from order houses, and totally bypassing
the local job market. So the question: Why does not our
Federal Government price support our local products to
compete with Foreign Markets? Could the answer be that
we have no local products? Or what? That Senator was talking
about cars. A Toyota is price supported. A Ford is not. That
immediately made me think, "Well why would I want to buy
a piece of junk like a Ford SUV, when I can buy a Toyota for
less and get better gas milage, and at the same time not
have to set foot in a Ford Repair shop where I know I'm going
to get screwed. The only way I would buy a Ford, and take
it to a Ford Mechanic is if I could stand there with a Police
Officer and a Lawyer while the Ford Mechanic worked on
MY car. I think we are doubly damned. Foreign products
are price supported .. and worse, they are quality products
that for the most part help keep us out of the hands of
local "businessmen".

johns

You left out the monetary exchange rate manipulation.

 

[johns]

Actually any government can simply create money in the form of tax
incentives ( so says the Senator ). The Asian governments are creating
money dozens of ways to price support their products. If a price
support
creates jobs, that job market is like investing in a high interest
stock.
It gains value far above the price support. That is what I simply don't
understand. The Feds must know that a viable job market is worth
far more than a little tax incentive.

johns

 

[Charlie Wilkes]

I agree that price supports aren't the answer but, in reverse, they don't
have to be "sustained in the long run" in order to work. They only have to
be sustained long enough to cripple the targeted industry, as Japan did
with TV sets and other US domestic industries in the 60s, 70s and 80s. And
their consumers paid for it with prices for their own domestic TV sets
higher than the same ones sold in the US while blocking US sales in Japan.

I'm not sure the strategy is or was that clear cut. Big differences
between Japan and the U.S.:

-- Japanese savings rate is much higher, so capital is cheaper. At
one point banks were charging customers to hold their money in a
savings account. If you have lots of cash and can't earn interest on
it, you might as well build more factories.

-- Japanese corporate emphasis is on social stewardship rather than
profit. Firing people, big layoffs, etc., are not taken for granted
in Japan. The government subsidizes corporations so they don't have
to downsize. It is a vicious cycle they would like to stop, because
it leads to all kinds of bad policies and bad effects. But the
political problems of doing so are immense.

-- Japanese retail sector is much less mature than U.S., with mom &
pop distribution adding greatly to costs.

Charlie

 

[johns]

Japan is the most expensive country in the world to live in. Its
citizens
are paid more than ours. And yet it is Japan who is most guilty of
price supporting their USA imports. Other Asian countries are merely
following the lead of the Japanese in order to bolster their own job
market, and it is working. It is not cheap labor that allows Asian
imports to sell for less. It is price supporting of foreign products
which cost just as much to produce there .. as here. Price supporting
simply reduces the "price" by 30 to 50 %, and totally undermines
our job market. At a time when our manufacturing jobs are rapidly
disappearing, it would be nice to stay competitive with foreign
products in our own country .. at least in terms of local businesses
selling those same foreign products ... but having to tack on $100
more. And you are right. Nobody is going to pay that, and so we
have companies like WalMart pushing out local businesses
by acting as local distributors for foreign companies, and not
dealing at all with products made in the USA. Senator says this
is simply not fair. Japan is price supporting businesses in the
USA ... as long as they sell Japanese made products, and
support a booming manufacturing industry in Japan ... and the
Engineering jobs and resulting economy that goes with it.

johns

 

[johns]

Exactly. We should be doing the same thing in the short
run, or we should ban their products. Only problem with
that, is none of us would be able to afford a decent game
box.

johns

 

[johns]

Well, what are they waiting for now? I can't afford to support
local businesses in my job. I feel that is almost immoral.
The dude I nerd with has the cutest little daughter I have
ever seen. What about her. I have a responsibility to her,
and I can't meet it.

johns

 

[johns]

You and that Senator are on the same team. That is
exactly what he was saying, and more.

johns

 

[H. Seldon]

Charlie Wilkes blurted this out on Monday 2/20/2006

U.S. capitalism is different from the Asian model. American
corporations are narrowly focused on profit, but Asian companies have
broad obligations to vendors, employees, the government, customers,
etc., and that is why they get these subsidies.

It's not a great business for the small operator to try to make a
living. I think you can do it as a service provider, but not simply
as a vendor of hardware. Margins are too thin.

Charlie

I live in Canada, we have an abundance of natural resources. For
example, softwood. I would imagine everyone who keeps abreast of these
things would be familiar with the fact that the US imports tremendeous
quantities of this product from its neighbor to the north. However,
because of the lower cost of production up here, the finished product
is much cheaper than that which is produced in the US. In order to
lessen the impact on your domestic industry, the US has levied an
import tax on all softwood lumber imported into the US from Canada.
Being Canadian I don't necessarily go along with this mentality ;-) but
it does serve to show that the playing field can be leveled.

The question is whether or not there is a will in the US to levy import
taxes on cheaper items coming in from other countries. In most cases
it just isn't there. Same as on this side of the border.

--
_____________________________________________________________

That's all,


"Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get
you"

< Colin Sautar >

 

[H. Seldon]

johns blurted this out on Monday 2/20/2006

Japan is the most expensive country in the world to live in. Its
citizens
are paid more than ours. And yet it is Japan who is most guilty of
price supporting their USA imports. Other Asian countries are merely
following the lead of the Japanese in order to bolster their own job
market, and it is working. It is not cheap labor that allows Asian
imports to sell for less. It is price supporting of foreign products
which cost just as much to produce there .. as here. Price supporting
simply reduces the "price" by 30 to 50 %, and totally undermines
our job market. At a time when our manufacturing jobs are rapidly
disappearing, it would be nice to stay competitive with foreign
products in our own country .. at least in terms of local businesses
selling those same foreign products ... but having to tack on $100
more. And you are right. Nobody is going to pay that, and so we
have companies like WalMart pushing out local businesses
by acting as local distributors for foreign companies, and not
dealing at all with products made in the USA. Senator says this
is simply not fair. Japan is price supporting businesses in the
USA ... as long as they sell Japanese made products, and
support a booming manufacturing industry in Japan ... and the
Engineering jobs and resulting economy that goes with it.

johns

Haha, take a look at your trade deficit with Japan. Those guys will
export their souls while importing absolutely nothing. Fair trade
practice?? The only two who come remotely close free trade with each
other is the US and Canada.
However, we're essentially a bunch of whiners. I look around and see
more and more people buying Honda, Toyota, Hyundia. Not only that,
these companies set up their plants here, throw a few jobs our way and
take the rest of the loot our of the countries to their's.
I think the solution is pretty simple. Implementing it is another
story.
And no, I have never purchased an off-shore automobile in my life and
I'll be goddamed if I ever will. If I can't help keep the jobs *and*
the money in US/Canada, I'll friggin' walk or take the bus. Also, for
your information, I'm still driving the FORD I bought in 1995 and as
cars go? damn thing hasn't cost me jack shit in repairs. People have
been brain-washed into believing North America can't do it any more and
only produce junk.

By the way, my Thunderbird cost one damn site less that anyone's Lexus
and for sure, one hell of a lot less to maintain.

How many jobs have GM, Ford and Chrysler cut recently and why? How
many jobs have the off-shore guys not cut and why haven't they?

--
_____________________________________________________________

That's all,


"Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get
you"

< Colin Sautar >

 

[Geoff]

You and that Senator are on the same team. That is

Worse than that, I experienced it . . . major company, most people recognize
the name, bunch of Indians show up and the orders come down, 'teach them
your work'. They stay for like 2 months, take everything back to India and
it is, 'bye, bye american employees, you're layed off'.

-g

 

[David Maynard]

I'm not sure the strategy is or was that clear cut.

You may not be sure but U.S. industry was.

Big differences
between Japan and the U.S.:

-- Japanese savings rate is much higher, so capital is cheaper. At
one point banks were charging customers to hold their money in a
savings account. If you have lots of cash and can't earn interest on
it, you might as well build more factories.

I'd question your presumption about 'cheaper' capital because there's a
heck of a lot more to it than individual savings rates but, even if true,
capital, unless restricted by government, flows to where the best
investment is. Witness the so called "the Japanese are buying America"
scare of the late 80s.

-- Japanese corporate emphasis is on social stewardship rather than
profit. Firing people, big layoffs, etc., are not taken for granted
in Japan. The government subsidizes corporations so they don't have
to downsize. It is a vicious cycle they would like to stop, because
it leads to all kinds of bad policies and bad effects. But the
political problems of doing so are immense.

For one, you're back to government subsidies, which is the free trade
complaint.

-- Japanese retail sector is much less mature than U.S., with mom &
pop distribution adding greatly to costs.

The cost comparison was ex works, not how much 'mom and pop' marked it up.

 

[David Maynard]

Exactly. We should be doing the same thing in the short
run, or we should ban their products. Only problem with
that, is none of us would be able to afford a decent game
box.

johns

Actually, the biggest problem is it could start a global trade war with the
potential to ruin everyone, as in remember the Great Depression. The stock
market actually recovered most of the '29 crash losses but the whole world
went into a trade protectionist frenzy causing the 'great' part of The
Great Depression.

Btw, in what seems like a stunningly stupid idea by today's standards,
Roosevelt's 'plan' to solve the depression was monetary inflation.
According to the government 'educational' newsreels explaining it (which
AMC aired during one of their nostalgia kicks), inflated prices would mean
more money to the seller, who would then have more money to spend, so he'd
buy more, increasing demand, that would increase production, that sold more
things for more profit... in a great 'higher prices/more profits to spend'
regenerative cycle.

But he forgot one little thing: the 'extra' profits from inflated prices
can't buy any more than before because, tada, prices are inflated.

Another rather stunning thing about the newsreel is it was blatantly
punitive and touted as another 'benefit' that those who owed money would
get the joy of screwing the lender (replete with Simon Legree
characterization) because they could pay back with 'cheap' inflated money.
Haha. Screw you.