Our auto industry is dependent on China.
 

The auto industry in the USA became dependent on Chinese integrated circuit chips. That is so wrong on many levels.

The situation is crippling the industry, damaging the US economy, and maybe even placing us at risk when it comes to military strategy.

It seems like we could ramp up IC chip production domestically.

Everything is dependent on China.

Military Strategy? Which country sells its best STEM slots to a potential opponent?

I guess I should of said "Geo / Political / Economic strategy".

Which country has the USA dependent but suddenly can't provide ?

I hope our military vehicles are not designed with these chips. Like the soviet insistence on using vacuum tubes for decade, rather than switch to USA technology of transistors.

We made our own silicon transistors. Tubes are fine when/where appropriate.

Now we're talkin'.

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/c...141923102.html

It shouldn't be like the new Toyota ignition keys; the ones that require a monthly subscription payment in order to start your car, at least not in our army tanks.

Private enterprise is having chips made.
Private enterprise has the chips made where the costs are lowest for the highest profit.
It would take the government getting involved to bring the industry back here to be competitive in producing our own chips. Private enterprise isn't interested in the national good. Private enterprise doesn't want the government horning in on their business (and profits).

Intel selects Ohio for ‘largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet’
Intel will spend at least $20 billion on new manufacturing hub near Columbus

https://www.theverge.com/2022/1/21/2...essor-shortage

This capitalism thing is out of control.

Y'all should appoint me as your dicktator.

Well shut my mouth :o The sooner we can get that silicon into products here the better. Now if we can only keep the politicians away.

Exactly. The government never sent a single manufacturing job overseas. Neither did the unions, environmentalists or any organization but private business and they did it of their own free will.

Now, try explaining that to a Republican and watch his head explode. The Republican will lay sole blame at the feet of "Big Government", Clinton and "Liberals", however......

The GOP removed Free Trade from their platform less than five years ago and their base has completely forgotten the GOP was ever in favor of it, yet the initial proposals for NAFTA came from the Reagan Administration and were advanced by GHWB. Remember the meetings with Vincente Fox and Bush the First? Remember the "Ceremonial Signing" of NAFTA? Regardless, opening a door doesn't make them or anyone else but private industry to blame for walking out.

As I recall, NAFTA was a collusion between government and private industry. The people that profited are the ones that built the corridor (at least in Texas). The goal was to circumvent the Unions that controlled shipping on the two seaboards by bringing cargo up through Mexico and Texas.

The Carlyle Group ran the prices up on warehouse property along I-35. Bought what they could. I know of one company that paid Carlyle millions of dollars just to stop bidding against them on one mid-sized warehouse.

Correction; The Carlyle Group was bidding against GAF for the ownership of a company called ELK. It involved more than one warehouse.

Just to clarify.

This was right before (then President) George W. distanced himself from the Carlyle Group. Carlyle went after one division of the ELK company, trying to out-bid GAF. As if The Carlyle Group manufactured anything besides military vehicles.

The only thing I could figure out, was that they wanted the real estate in the NAFTA corridor. GAF had to pay The Carlyle Group (IIRC $2 million) to stop bidding.

Wound up to be this company; https://www.gaf.com/en-us/about-us/n...uxury-shingles

I suppose building materials would be a good investment if you were going to do re-construction in a war zone.

While we're off-topic;

Isn't it an interesting coincidence that Unocal / Chevron had made a deal with the Taliban government in Afghanistan to build a 2.5 billion dollar pipeline right before George W. decided to have a war with said Taliban ?

The pipeline never happened.

Separating the government from private industry is not very likely in the USA.

Why not you say?
Sez I...

https://media4.giphy.com/media/cnuGu...giphy.gif&ct=s

Ouch.

The banker in Monopoly was inspired by JP Morgan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Mo...%20P.%20Morgan.

The US Federal Reserve is a private industry, established with JP's help.

Paul Warburg was heavily involved in this, and central to the established of the income tax for private citizens in the USA just prior to WW1. Paul's brother Max, was the primary banker behind the rise of the Nazi party in Germany.

I'm not sure if this is a conundrum or a paradox.

The money supply is separate from the government, yet the government is totally dependent on the money supply.

I know it's a central tenant of the QAnon bullshit.

Anyone else notice the similarity in platforms between QAnon and The John Birch Society ? I mean 'Mr Q' has tossed in "Lizard People from the 18th dimension", but other than that it's John Birch Society.

Americans are willing to pay higher prices for goods made in the USA

Despite statements in articles in places like USA Today from assholes like Nick Ayers who was assistant to the president and chief of staff to the vice president in the Trump administration, saying that Americans will gladly pay more to have all the chips and batteries and drugs and electronics and all the subcontracted auto parts, etc., made in this country. Americans will piss and moan about the prices they pay...because corporate America is not going to reduce their profit margins so that entitled Americans will stop their sniveling about prices. And the fact is that decent profits are important to American business...no profits, no jobs.

The politician is an integral part of the business.

For better or worse.

https://i.imgflip.com/3lxlhv.jpg

In our Democracy, bribery and corruption are a byproduct of Free Speech.