Wilbur Ross on the New U.S. Economic Stimulus: Coronavirus

Commerce Secretary, inveterate liar, and noted grifter Wilbur Ross is going viral for claiming that China’s novel coronavirus epidemic “will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America.” Kinda like how the Black Death stimulated real estate opportunities by emptying Europe’s cities, apparently.

The comment is not just morally appalling, it demonstrates complete ignorance of 21st century manufacturing processes, just what you want in a Secretary of Commerce. Vehicles assembled in the U.S., for example, contain 40 to 50 percent imported parts and components. If China’s factories shut down due to quarantine, U.S. auto assembly lines will grind to a halt. The Rust Belt won’t save the day by sprouting new factories. the corporate billions liberated by the Trump tax cuts were supposed to fund factory development but were used for unproductive stock buybacks instead.

More:

“Wilbur Ross Says Coronavirus Could Bring Jobs Back to the U.S.,” Ana Swanson and Alan Rappeport, New York Times

“Wilbur Ross says Coronavirus could boost US jobs,” BBC News

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How Bicycles Are Made

Maria Popova at Brain Pickings found this 1945 British Council promo for Nottingham’s Raleigh Bicycles. The British bike institution was recently acquired by the Dutch firm Accell.

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Sony Walkman: It’s Alive!

 

You may have heard that Sony is hitting “erase” on the Walkman cassette player, stopping sale of the machine that started the personal portable music era 30 years ago. Not quite.

Sony has stopped producing and selling the cassette players in Japan, reports Shan Li in the Los Angeles Times, but at this time there are no plans to stop sales in the U.S.A.

 

 For comprehensive Walkman information, see the fan site WalkmanCentral.com 

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Auto Industry Drives U.S. Economy

This morning the federal government reports the latest unemployment figures, using a measure that seems increasingly irrelevant as more Americans remain among the long-term unemployed and underemployed. While we wait for dubious numbers and optimistic spin, let’s adopt the misunderstood, mis-attributed, and misquoted adage that “what’s good for General Motors is good for the United States” and turn our bloodshot eyes on Detroit.

Industry boosters are gilding the poison ivy, choosing to see last month’s slight bounce as the start of an upturn, but others wonder if the plunging sector has hit bottom yet. It’s only a matter of time before xenophobes and protectionists seize on the fact that Asian cars outsold Detroit buggies in God’s Own Country last year.

Job cuts continue among U.S. auto workers, and Con Chapman has identified a significant new economic indicator: 

“As Auto Industry Shrinks, Crash Test Dummies Fear Future.” 

 

Image (“You Want Fries With That?”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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American Milestone — 2.75-Ton Slab of Fudge!

Evolution, American-Style.

Michigan may not know fudge about building cars anymore, but a Lansing culinary professor just produced the world’s largest slab of fudge, 5,500 pounds. On second thought, that‘s exactly how Michigan bulds cars. The world’s largest fudge bar still weights 1800 pounds less than a 2009 Cadillac Escalade.

In other weighty news, Michigan ranks No. 2 in the senior division of the annual Fattest States ranking, with the second highest percentage of obese 55- to 64-year-olds, 36%.

Coincidence?

 

See more at “F” as in “Fat” 2009

Image (“Evolution, American-Style”) by Mike Licht. Download a copy here. Creative Commons license; credit Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com

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Does US DTV Mean Full Employment for China?

 

If you are among the millions of Americans who got coupons from the Federal Government and used them to defray the cost of digital television converter boxers, the workers of China thank you.

You may have purchased your device from Radio Shack, a retail chain headquartered in Texas. The boxes may have the “Zenith” logo on the outside, trademark of an historic American brand.

But flip the DTV converter over. See the label? Made in China by the Korean company that now owns Zenuth.

Still got the cardboard box the converter was packed in? Flip it over. “Made and printed in Cailu Foamcasts Factory, Shanghai.”

Repeat the process with the new antenna you bought to receive over-the-air digital signals. Same results.

New Car Smell

Automobiles are changing, but the 2010 models come equipped with many of the deluxe interior appointments to which we have grown accustomed: formaldehyde, naphthalene, phthalates, carbon disulfide, toluene, acetone, xylenes, 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene, polybrominated diphenyl ethers, ethylbenzene, ethylene glycol butyl ether, bromine, lead, and other heavy metals and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). These are the components of “New Car Smell,” the treasured aroma of factory-fresh automobiles, a true American aphrodisiac.

The poisonous perfumes emanate from the adhesives, paints, vinyls and plastics inside your new car’s passenger compartment, from carpet to headliner and dashboard to rear deck, for up to six months. The fragrant fumes may cause nausea, dizziness, asthma, and allergic attacks. One reporter compares the danger to glue-sniffing.  At higher concentrations than found in car interiors, some of these chemicals are know to cause liver, nerve and kidney damage, birth defects, and cancer.

Slim Jims Factory Blows Up!

A North Carolina food processing plant that makes spicy Slim Jims™ beef jerky snacks exploded this morning. Is any meat-eating American really surprised?

Haz-Mat teams are on site to deal with Tabasco ammonia leaks. 48 people were hurt, and some were treated for inhalation of fumes (ouch). At last report, 2 workers were unaccounted for killed (see comment below).

 

“Slim Jims™” and associated logos are registered trademarks of ConAgra Foods, Inc. and are used here because this post is about Slim Jims™. NotionsCapital received no consideration for this free advertising, not even a can of Chef Boyardee Forkables™.

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The Ink is Red

However much the reactionaries try to hold back the wheel of history, sooner or later revolution will take place and will inevitably triumph. — Mao Zedong, November 6, 1957

The General Motors Corporation has agreed to sell it’s Hummer division to Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Company Ltd. of the People’s Republic of China. Terms have not been released, but the sale should be closed by the end of September.

Diligence and frugality should be practised in running factories and shops …. — Mao Zedong, 1955

GM filed for bankruptcy protection Monday morning, and needs the money. Essentially, the company has been nationalized, as the U.S. government now owns sixty percent of General Motors. Sichuan Tengzhong, based in Chengdu, is a private corporation.

 Factories can only be built one by one. — Mao Zedong, November 18, 1957

Some GM plants in the U.S. will continue building Hummers — for Sichuan Tengzhong — for a least a year.

 

Note: Military Humvees are built by AM General, not GM; quotations are from the new Hummer Owner’s Manual; the title of this post alludes to a Chinese folk song that became a patriotic march and then an anthem associated with the Cultural Revolution.

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Sixty Percent Good for the Country?

1953: GM President Charles Erwin Wilson tells the Senate Armed Services Committee “for years I thought what was good for the country was good for General Motors and vice versa.”

2009: The United States Government takes 60 percent ownership of General Motors.

 

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