Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

market-farming - Re: [Market-farming] The cost of steel

market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: Market Farming

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: Pat Meadows <pat AT meadows.pair.com>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] The cost of steel
  • Date: Tue, 25 May 2004 13:05:45 -0400

On Tue, 25 May 2004 08:33:20 -0700, you wrote:

>I was listening to NPR a few weeks ago on my way to an evening farmer's
>market, and they were talking with someone from a US steel company -
>don't remember which - and the topic was the rising price of steel.
>
>Basically it boiled down to this: China used to send all of their steel
>to the US and European markets. US and European steel makers went out
>of business because they couldn't compete with cheap Chinese steel.
>
>Now China has cut their exports dramatically, because they need the
>steel in-country.
>
>Likewise, they are importing more oil than ever, and that is pinching
>the world oil supply.
>
>Don't buy anything made in China. :/
>

In this particular case, it's not their fault, especially -
China is just looking out for (what it perceives as) its own
interests.

If we allow short-sighted policies (as we did when we
allowed the steel makers to go out of business rather than
helping them), then we should hardly be surprised when the
results of those policies come back to bite us.

This is just one result of under-regulated capitalism and a
misguided faith in the holy sanctity of 'market forces'.
Live by the sword, die by the sword....

We sowed the seeds when we allowed most of our manufacturing
jobs to leave the USA. We're beginning to reap the harvest
of those seeds.

Now we're also allowing technical and office jobs to be
'off-shored' - this also have disastrous results in the
not-very-distant future.

IMHO, a more valid reason not to buy anything made in China
would be its very poor record on human rights.

Pat
--
"Rats and roaches live by competition under the laws of
supply and demand. It is the privilege of human beings to
live under the laws of justice and mercy." - Wendell Berry





Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page