Owing to possible unavailability of wireless it may be impossible to post on this blog during the next ten days. Please keep reading ( and commenting!) but if there is a break in transmision it will only be occasional and, at worst, short.
Thank you for your support.
Chinese textile firms are now opening new factories, not in China but in the American South. With the steep rise in the wages of Chinese workers and the stagnation (at best) of the wages of American workers—Southern workers most particularly—and with the higher levels of productivity and lower energy costs in the South, it is now cheaper to manufacture in Dixie than it is in Guandong.
Low Southern wages have had the effect of bringing down wage levels across the nation, both in manufacturing and in retail (for which Walmart’s move north, while maintaining Southern wage levels, is largely responsible). Low Southern manufacturing wages are one of a number of factors that have contributed to the 4.4 percent decline in the median U.S. manufacturing wage between 2003 and 2013, and a leading factor in the decline of the hourly wage differential between all Midwestern and Southern workers (not just those in manufacturing) from $7 to $3.34 between 2008 and 2011, according to Moody’s Analytics.
Commentators cite the national average for manufacturing wages, but that’s an average that runs from, say, skilled operators of sophisticated machinery at Boeing’s plant in Seattle to workers like the employees at a South Carolina textile factory, and doesn’t illustrate how depressed South Carolinian wages are.
In short, the South Carolina Establishment, bosses and politicians, have been introducing subsistence wages reminiscent of the the Reconstruction after the Civil War , and, in the process, have brought down income everywhere. So much for the minimum wage. Then they blather on about bringing jobs back to America, about making America great again, about the “exceptional nation”. It’s exceptional alright!
Epicureans believe in a fair and decent income for everyone. A living wage implies a tolerable level of happiness and political stability. If you depress income enough you end up with revolution. Trump and Sanders are the first and visible signs of pending trouble.
I always thought my mathematics were a bit weak, and that teaching at my school on this subject was poor, until I read an article in the New York Times of February 28th 2016 by Andrew Hacker. The author quoted a national survey that found that 82% of all Americans could not compute the cost of a carpet when told its dimensions and square-yard price. Really?
America comes 22nd in the league of numeracy, after Estonia and Cyprus. It seems that people leave high school innumerate and that they get to college without being able to do simple additions and subtractions in their heads. They find decimals and ratios difficult , which raises the question why they are accepted for higher education. It baffles me. At my university they had a numeracy exam before you even started your chosen subject.
The writer says that students protest that the elements of basic numeracy are covered in statistics. But many students are taught binomial random variables, least- square regression lines, pooled sample standard errors and so on without being able to do a rough and ready long division in their heads. (admission – I haven’t a clue what these statistical devices are). It turns out that American schools teach arithmetic in early childhood, but move far too quickly onto geometry and algebra, without securing the basics. Geometry and algebra are seldom of practical use to them. As the author says, “All those X’s and “Y’s” can inhibit becoming deft with everyday digits”.
What has this to do with an Epicurean life? If you can’t do simple arithmetic in your head you are never quite sure whether you are getting a bargain or whether a cashier is even giving you the correct change. You are in a regular state of uncertainty, are not in charge of your life and can have no peace of mind. Nor will you hold down a job, likely as not. This is neither necessary nor desirable to a pleasant life. Indeed, it is perverse.
The U.S. is ranked 41 out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index, which measures the “level of freedom of information in 180 countries.” It moved from 49 in 2015 to 41 this year, although the “relative improvement by comparison hides overall negative trends”.
Citing the U.S. government’s “war on whistleblowers who leak information about its surveillance activities, spying and foreign operations, especially those linked to counter-terrorism,” and the country’s lack of a “shield law” that would allow journalists to protect confidential sources, the report takes a decidedly negative view of U.S. press freedom.
Some of the policies condemned in the report come from President Obama’s administration, as NPR’s Sam Sanders has reported:
“[Obama’s] Justice Department has cracked down on reporters in an effort to prevent leaks; it also set a new record for withholding access to government files under the Freedom of Information Act (despite calling for a “new era of openness” on his first day in office); and photojournalists in 2013 from several major news organizations chastised the Obama administration for denying their ‘right to photograph or videotape the President while he is performing his official duties,’ instead relying on official photos shot by White House photographers.”
The Reporters Without Borders index also points to the 2016 presidential race and #BlackLivesMatter protests as occasions when press freedom has been trampled:
“Since the primaries began last summer, journalists have seen their access to campaign events restricted by candidates from both political parties and have been insulted and even bullied on social media. [Reporters Without Borders] is also still troubled by the arrest of journalists during #Blacklivesmatter protests in Baltimore and Minneapolis. The report does praise a new federal policy mandating more communication and transparency regarding U.S. hostage cases.
Finland, Netherlands, Norway and Denmark are ranked in the top four spots, while Syria, Turkmenistan, North Korea and Eritrea are in the last four places. Countries ahead of the U.S. in the rankings include Canada (18), Ghana (26), Chile (31) and the U.K. (38). The U.S. is ranked higher than France (45) and Italy (77). (Sam Sanders, NPR. 21 April 2016 on the 41st Press Freedom index).
The figure of 41 out of 180 speaks for itself, and there is truth in what Reporters without Borders say. But the fact is that the American Press is owned by a tiny number of oligarchs.Their distortion of the news to serve the interests of the owners, their fellow multi- millionaires, the politicians or the armed forces is shameful. To get the truth on an issue you have to spend ages every day checking with reliable bloggers, people who make it their job to interview people on the spot, foreign news sites etc. And what the Press leave out is as important as what they choose to cover. In all and collectively they protesteth too much. And by the way, the majority are politically biased (see treatment of Bernie’s election campaign for a start).
George Soros is worried about the outlook for the global economy and concerned that large market shifts may be at hand. The billionaire hedge-fund founder and philanthropist recently directed a series of big, bearish investments. The Soros Fund Management LLC, which manages $30 billion for Mr. Soros and his family, sold stocks and bought gold and shares of gold mines.
The reason? Soros thinks that levels of debt in China resemble the borrowing craze in the U.S. just before the housing bubble burst and the economy fell into severe recession. The concern is that greater economic turmoil abroad could hurt the economies of the rest of the world. (adapted from an article in the Wall Street Journal)
Soros has done this before and there has not been a global disaster. But who has the courage to bet against him? Is this the fault of capitalism itself, simple miscalculation, stupid greed, or incompetent government? In any case, best be prepared for another roller- coaster ride. Immediately, for those banking with HSBC Bank, which has a big exposure in China, make sure all your eggs are spread around a bit, if you have any in that basket. Otherwise, try to msintain your ataraxia – if you can.
