Thanks to Donald, finally we know.

[Yagoda]

2 hours ago, JAG said:

As so often, you seize the wrong end of the stick and gallop off into the distance.

 

I make no criticism of Shirer, I have read much of his work, including "The Rise and Fall" I am pointing out the remarkable parallels between the events he documented so vividly ( whose authors boasted amounted to the creation of a new "World Order") and what is happening today. It was you who raised the spectre of creating and reshaping "World Orders".

No criticism of Shirer intended and your entirely and completely wrong about any parallels.  Start a topic and I'll go beat you up on it over there

[jimmybcool]

11 hours ago, sqwakvfr said:

Manufacturing in the US depends on the product.  F-35 plants in Fort Worth TX are humming with lots of workers. New chip plants are in the plans for many US locations.  But clothing, shoes and consumer electronics are dead on arrival. I call this the "Wal Mart" effect.  Therefore, innovating or inventing products in the aforementioned categories are dead in the US.  Therefore, even 100% tariffs will not bring "home" manufacturing in these categories. 

 

Yes those industries are DOA.  But not innovation as the issue.  Production costs are too high in comparison to the sweat shops in Asia.  The cost to manufacture a Nike shoe in Massachusetts is massively higher than in Shanghai or Vietnam. 

 

Reality is some day this might not be true.  When robotics truly remove the unskilled labor force from the equation or when standard of living costs are on par. 

[jimmybcool]

6 hours ago, JAG said:

It's a bit of a conundrum really, isn't it? Who to believe "invented the internet"? I mean Berners-Lee who is widely thought, and well documented, internationally recognised as the man who started it, or some bloke who goes under a pseudonym on an expatriate forum in Thailand?

 

It isn't me to believe.  It is the massive quantity of evidence available on this very resource. 😃

[tomazbodner]

Interesting news for those who expected companies to get on their knees and bring manufacturing (back) to US..

 

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/peter-schiff-says-nike-wont-180018691.html

 

 

 

Sorry folks, but global companies would rather keep 7.5 billion customers' market than drop all of that to please 400m... or rather 1 man.

[tomazbodner]

I am fully expecting MAGA crowd to now come and tell how nobody will miss Nike, that it's pile of 💩 they would never consider wearing, that Shiff is an i-diot who knows nothing, dig up some made up scandal, attack me as a lefty, in other words - do whatever they can to discredit the messenger and smear the brand which dares to resist their divine leader...

 

3, 2, 1,...

 

[FritsSikkink]

18 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

The internet has given us social media, intellectual property theft, Musk and porn.

They should have restricted it to government agencies. We'd have been better for not having it.

It gave us the biggest up to date library. looks like you haven't been using it like that.

[steven100]

On 4/6/2025 at 12:42 AM, Keeps said:

but his recent exploits have cost many financially

you could say that about what Covid-19 did,   but nothing happened there,  not one Chinese was or ousted or punished.    just saying ....  

 

it'll be the same with Trump,    the markets will recover and it'll all blow over within a few weeks/ months. 

[beautifulthailand99]

That scared look you see on many of the faces of the newsreaders is the knot in their stomachs as they see their acquired wealth torched by the insane orange clown. The free MAGA ride troll is over and the crazy cost of voting this idiot into power is becoming starkly clear.

[steven100]

It's confirmed ......

 

 

 

https://us.yahoo.com/news/trump-exposes-own-kindergarten-level-161845155.html

 

 

 

 

[beautifulthailand99]

 

[beautifulthailand99]

[Robert_O]

On 4/5/2025 at 6:28 PM, swissie said:

All Silicone Valley stuff.

The WWW was created by a British Scientist, Tim Berners-Lee. Get your facts together. Google before you say anything embarrassing! 

[thaibeachlovers]

20 hours ago, jimmybcool said:

 

 I would disagree that lack of innovation or invention is the problem.  IMO the problem is labor costs and excessive red tape.  The cost to build a factory is much higher with the amount of permits needed and inspections etc.  Then building costs are high with labor to build being much higher than that in 3rd world countries.  After that your run rate is very high with unionized labor costs being double or triple that in China or India etc. 

 

Really is tough to open a new business in some places the the amount of hurdles placed in front of business.  Now SOME of them are for good reason and I don't want the USA to allow open sewers and spewing chemicals into the ecosystem.  But there needs to be a better balance than what we have now.

 

 

It's going to get worse! They will build factories, by robots, and run them with robots. We've all seen vdo of car factories with robots making the cars- visualise them without ANY humans- that's the future.

[thaibeachlovers]

1 hour ago, beautifulthailand99 said:

That picture is going to be wrong shortly. That company will likely relocate the factory to the US, but automated- no need for pesky human workers.

As for the people left behind; I don't envy them their life then.

[thaibeachlovers]

7 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

Sorry folks, but global companies would rather keep 7.5 billion customers' market than drop all of that to please 400m... or rather 1 man.

Wrong- they will do anything that gives them a bigger profit. If returning to the US is more profitable, they will. Big companies are run by people that have zero empathy for the people they exploit.

[thaibeachlovers]

3 hours ago, beautifulthailand99 said:

That scared look you see on many of the faces of the newsreaders is the knot in their stomachs as they see their acquired wealth torched by the insane orange clown. The free MAGA ride troll is over and the crazy cost of voting this idiot into power is becoming starkly clear.

The current system is IMO corrupt and rotten to the core. It works by moving production to where they can most easily exploit the workers to make more profit.

The whole rotten system would eventually collapse anyway, and if it's Trump that starts the collapse, it just happens to be now that it does collapse.

 

Hopefully, after it's over and things return to "normal" they won't be like after 2008 and just carry on with the same old economic criminality, repackaged somewhat.

[thaibeachlovers]

7 hours ago, tomazbodner said:

I am fully expecting MAGA crowd to now come and tell how nobody will miss Nike, that it's pile of 💩 they would never consider wearing, that Shiff is an i-diot who knows nothing, dig up some made up scandal, attack me as a lefty, in other words - do whatever they can to discredit the messenger and smear the brand which dares to resist their divine leader...

 

3, 2, 1,...

 

 Nobody will miss Nike, it's pile of 💩 I would never consider wearing.

 

IMO Shiff IS an i-diot who knows nothing.

 

The laptop is real, not made up.

 

Are you admitting you are a lefty?

 

 

[thaibeachlovers]

8 hours ago, jimmybcool said:

Reality is some day this might not be true.  When robotics truly remove the unskilled labor force from the equation or when standard of living costs are on par. 

Errrrr.

Robotics are closer than you think. Trump's drive to return manufacturing to the US will result in largely automated factories in the US. The technology exists but needs a push to be made reality.

 

Eastern standard of living will not improve, but western standard of living for all but the wealthy will decline to match theirs.

 

IMO.

[jimmybcool]

18 minutes ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Errrrr.

Robotics are closer than you think. Trump's drive to return manufacturing to the US will result in largely automated factories in the US. The technology exists but needs a push to be made reality.

 

Eastern standard of living will not improve, but western standard of living for all but the wealthy will decline to match theirs.

 

IMO.

 

You may be right.  The future is unknown.  On the flip side if products can be made with much less human labor then their cost will be equally less costly and more widely available.  It might usher in a period of wealth and prosperity for all.  I mean if the cost of a new Mercedes matches the cost of a skateboard we all have a Merc. 

 

Somehow I suspect we will see a middle of the road between the bleak everyone has the standard of living of a Lao rice farmer and everyone has a Merc.

[steven100]

5 hours ago, steven100 said:

It's confirmed ......

 

 

 

https://us.yahoo.com/news/trump-exposes-own-kindergarten-level-161845155.html

 

 

 

 

 

The US cannot compete with the likes of China, Taiwan or Philippines because their labour costs are so high.  A pair of work boots can be made in China for 75%   less than in the US.

Also,  building materials costs are so high,  therefore to construct and open a factory costs 80% more in the US than in Taiwan or China or the Philippines. 

 

The US can never compete with those numbers.   

[tomazbodner]

3 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Are you admitting you are a lefty?

Never was.

[anotherexpat4444]

On 4/6/2025 at 10:10 AM, FritsSikkink said:

Charging USA buyers. NOT the countries who supply.

if you are not American why you guys bother  if it charge on USA buyer or  the exporter adjust the price at there end 

[FritsSikkink]

9 hours ago, anotherexpat4444 said:

if you are not American why you guys bother  if it charge on USA buyer or  the exporter adjust the price at there end 

Because most MAGA people don't understand how tariffs work. 

The exporter DOESN'T adjust the price at their end.

The USA government taxes the goods in the USA and the USA CONSUMER pay the inflated price. 

It is a USA tax hike.

[frank83628]

On 4/8/2025 at 2:30 AM, beautifulthailand99 said:

 

Stocks rise and fall, that's what they do, unless you were looking to cash out now its a non issue,  Same as house prices and any long term investment.

If the media got behind their Ptesident and posted positively instead of slagging him off nonstop your investments would be rocketing, like it did when he won and took office.

 

[KhunLA]

 

[frank83628]

2 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Yes, exactly, there is so much anti trump media out there the negatively is all these dude here ever see. Everything is 'the end of the world' they get more n more  hysterical every day and then... nothing happens, how many countries have come to negotiate the tariffs? 

[KhunLA]

16 minutes ago, frank83628 said:

Yes, exactly, there is so much anti trump media out there the negatively is all these dude here ever see. Everything is 'the end of the world' they get more n more  hysterical every day and then... nothing happens, how many countries have come to negotiate the tariffs? 

You'd think they'd give him more than a couple months before assessing his performance.

 

The Dow or even the S&P is not an indicator of anything, unless you are invested in, which most people are not.   If their pensions are, then that's long term, and probably up since they started employment, and or will be when they retire.   If the company or union they belong to doesn't screw them over before hand.

 

Comical, that most haters, aren't even Yanks, and probably close to or already retired, and anything he or the USA does, won't affect them at all. 

 

I'm a yank, and not worried about anything they do over there, as minimal effect.   THB / USD exchange rate might fluctuate 10-15%, or COLA will be -0- instead of 2-3-4 or ever 5%.

 

Oh my ... PANIC 

 

If you can't take a 0-20% hit in your finances, you've already screwed up, all by yourself.  

[jerrymahoney]

59 minutes ago, frank83628 said:

If the media got behind their Ptesident and posted positively instead of slagging him off nonstop your investments would be rocketing, like it did when he won and took office.

‘You can’t pin him down’: Trump’s contradictions are his ultimate cover

 

Straits Times from NY Times Mar 09, 2025

 

WASHINGTON – What does President Donald Trump really believe?

Does he want to run for a third term, or is that just a joke? Does he intend to seize control of the Gaza Strip and expel millions of Palestinians, or is that just a suggestion? Is Black History Month a waste of time and money, or worth a lavish celebration at the White House?

 

Anyone looking for definitive answers will have a hard time finding them.

 

Since storming back into office, Mr. Trump has used a dizzying rhetorical tactic of shifting positions like quicksand, muddying his messages and contradicting himself, sometimes in the same day. The inconsistencies have presented the American public with dueling narratives at every turn, allowing people to pick and choose what they want to believe about the president’s intentions.

 

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/you-cant-pin-him-down-trumps-contradictions-are-his-ultimate-cover

[beautifulthailand99]

4 hours ago, KhunLA said:

You'd think they'd give him more than a couple months before assessing his performance.

 

The Dow or even the S&P is not an indicator of anything, unless you are invested in, which most people are not.   If their pensions are, then that's long term, and probably up since they started employment, and or will be when they retire.   If the company or union they belong to doesn't screw them over before hand.

 

Comical, that most haters, aren't even Yanks, and probably close to or already retired, and anything he or the USA does, won't affect them at all. 

 

I'm a yank, and not worried about anything they do over there, as minimal effect.   THB / USD exchange rate might fluctuate 10-15%, or COLA will be -0- instead of 2-3-4 or ever 5%.

 

Oh my ... PANIC 

 

If you can't take a 0-20% hit in your finances, you've already screwed up, all by yourself.  

New MAGA party line that follows on from Trump had the best stock market ever. Wealth is being destoyed needlessly by an idiot and we will all be poorer in the end. Except his inner circle mates who are trading the chaos with insider knowledge.

[beautifulthailand99]

4 hours ago, jerrymahoney said:

‘You can’t pin him down’: Trump’s contradictions are his ultimate cover

 

Straits Times from NY Times Mar 09, 2025

 

WASHINGTON – What does President Donald Trump really believe?

Does he want to run for a third term, or is that just a joke? Does he intend to seize control of the Gaza Strip and expel millions of Palestinians, or is that just a suggestion? Is Black History Month a waste of time and money, or worth a lavish celebration at the White House?

 

Anyone looking for definitive answers will have a hard time finding them.

 

Since storming back into office, Mr. Trump has used a dizzying rhetorical tactic of shifting positions like quicksand, muddying his messages and contradicting himself, sometimes in the same day. The inconsistencies have presented the American public with dueling narratives at every turn, allowing people to pick and choose what they want to believe about the president’s intentions.

 

https://www.straitstimes.com/world/united-states/you-cant-pin-him-down-trumps-contradictions-are-his-ultimate-cover

He's a lunatic - that's all you need to know and one who persuaded half of America to vote for him. setting aside the specific concerns about residual 10% tariffs, we’ve entered a window now where the world wants to check out of US investments as the trust and confidence in the US regime has evaporated. This is what happens when you don’t play nice -you soon find that nobody wants to play with you. Consequences will eventually be catastrophic for US citizens, amongst others.