Wow... its as if the fact reporting part of the WSJ and the op-ed part of wsj are two different newspapers...
Here is one thing the Biden Admin can do to reduce price - drop the tariffs. Nvidia Asks Biden Admin to Exempt Graphics Cards from Tariffs (gizmodo.com) You may have noticed that along with being perpetually out of stock, PC graphics cards are more expensive than ever. This is no coincidence, and it isn’t solely caused by the ongoing chip shortage. No, these price hikes are partially the result of a Trump-era tariff against imports from China. With President Joe Biden now in office, tech giants whose products rely on GPUs are asking the White House to exempt graphics cards manufactured in China. While the Biden administration has kept Trump’s tariffs on Chinese goods in place, the U.S. Trade Representative said in October that it was considering reinstating some exclusions after letting them expire at the end of last year. Already facing crippling supply shortages, tech companies—Google, Apple, and Intel among them—swiftly backed temporary waivers for tariffs on products and components produced in China. Nvidia, HP, and PC-hardware firm Zotac joined the growing choir earlier this week when they filed separate requests to the office of the U.S. Trade Representative. These submissions shared the same production exemption on “printed circuit assemblies for rendering images onto computer screens (‘graphics processing modules’).” Or, as we know them, graphics cards or GPUs. Graphics cards, the engine behind consoles and gaming laptops, have been one of the most elusive products to buy during the coronavirus pandemic as the chip shortage has prevented supply from coming close to meeting demand. Not only are they difficult to find, but the few that trickle into the market are more expensive as a result of the 25% tariff instated in 2018 at the start of Trump’s trade war with China. One of the goals of the tariff was to encourage companies to move manufacturing to the United States, but the supply chain for many components still heavily relies on Chinese factories. Nvidia used this to argue that GPUs should be exempted from the tariff, stating: “The products are not manufactured in the U.S. and in only limited amounts in Taiwan. Efforts to create new capacity in countries that presently do not manufacture such products (such as the U.S. and Vietnam) were unsuccessful and were severely hampered by the fallout from covid-19.” It continued, “Given the limits on supply of semiconductors, it also would have been the wrong time to face lower yields that are associated with new sites.” HP echoed Nvidia, citing the industry’s reliance on China not only for manufacturing but other processes involved in bringing graphics components to market. “AMD and Nvidia have manufacturing locations throughout Asia, in China, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Malaysia. However, different product lines are sourced from designated locations,” HP told the USTR. “Regardless of where a graphics chip is initially produced, China is a hub for the ‘back-end’ production (i.e., labor-intensive manufacturing and testing steps) and thus the primary source for imports,” the company said. “The products HP sources are not currently produced elsewhere at sufficient capacity, quality, and compatibility needed.” ...
Opinion: It’s time to entertain the possibility that the Build Back Better bill won’t pass https://www.washingtonpost.com/opin...bility-that-build-back-better-bill-wont-pass/
“That’s not something Manchin is willing to do, per all his public statements. He said last week that “this is not the best job I’ve ever had . . . I’m not going to sell my soul for this.” lol too late for that…big oil already has it.
I actually like this in theory. Basically, if the Dems go to Manchin and say we accept you're not going to do BBB, but the trade off is give in on filibuster of voting rights. Voting rights, big picture, is a massive issue and a big win there is easy to sell. BBB was a morass as it was - the original bill was good but all the changes to get people's support kept making it worse and worse. But use BBB's failure to push Manchin and Sinema on voting rights filibuster reform.
CNN Poll: Most say government is doing too little to fix inflation and the supply chain https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/15/politics/cnn-poll-economy/index.html excerpt: By Jennifer Agiesta, CNN Polling Director Updated 12:10 PM ET, Wed December 15, 2021 (CNN) Americans' impressions of the nation's economy remain gloomy and broad majorities think the federal government has done too little to try to solve problems with the nation's supply chain and rising inflation, according to a new CNN Poll conducted by SSRS. All told, three-quarters say they are worried about the state of the economy in their own community (75%) and 63% say the nation's economy is in poor shape. Nearly 6 in 10 (57%) say that the economic news they've heard lately has been mostly bad, with just 19% saying they are hearing mostly good news about the economy right now. Asked to rate the severity of seven issues affecting the economy recently, about 8 in 10 say the rising cost of food and other everyday items (80%), the disruption in the nation's supply chain (79%), and the rising cost of housing (77%) are major problems for the nation's economy. Seventy percent see the rising cost of gas as a major problem, and 67% each say labor shortages and government spending are major issues. A similar 65% call the coronavirus pandemic a major problem for the country's economy. Few see President Joe Biden's policies as having a positive impact on economic conditions (30%), while nearly half (45%) say his policies have worsened the economy, and a quarter say they've had no impact. And 54% disapprove of the way he's handling the economy generally, up five points since late summer, with a matching 54% now disapproving of how he's handling helping the middle class.
Still think an updated version of the BBB that makes all the social programs permanent will just pass?
Voting Right >>>>> BBB. The latest Supreme Court ruling should be a red flashing light that the 5 Conservatives on the Court don't respect the Constitution and are partisan hacks.
Supply chains usually take years beyond a presidency to form. Chipmakers are already saying the shortages will likely extend beyond 2022. People don't like government meddling to fix **** until they like the government to fix their ****. Magical thinking for everyone. Do sumthin Murry! But don't tread on me!!
PC manufs have been fighting the chip shortage since covid. The hoops they are jumping through to find, secure and use 2nd, 3rd, 4th sources... we also see that IBM and others are building new plants, which will take Billions and years to complete. Costco charter their own ship for a year. HD, Walmart, and others secured long-term contracts for their own ships. Amzn have their own ships already and are rerouting them to bypass overwhelmed ports. If you want to get an idea of the issue, the scope of it, and how long it takes to fully resolve, look at what these companies are doing.
since the start of the trade war. WMT, COST. TGT, etc. have explored more ways / options to counter the bottlenecks in the supply chains
Hints of tapering and rate hikes next to combat inflation sounds like a bigger mistake. Another square demand-oriented peg into a circle supply-related hole. I actually respect his position. 3T in unfunded liabilities is a legitimate point of concern, and his dissent will likely shed some grace for Dems in posterity if the budget spirals out of control even more than it already has. I remember the doom scenarios Dems were painting when Republicans forced Obama into sequestration. While it threw some government agencies into chaos, none of those doom scenarios happened. It even lowered that year's budget deficit to the point where Obama partisans made it a highlight. Always tough to tell how much impact trillions of dollars will be. I mean the first CARES act was stuffed with so much pork, neither side had an empty mouth to complain about it. I don't feel good about next year's economy. To be fair, I didn't feel good about the same time last year either because of the lack of vaccines. Maybe they can stash that spending until another disaster really does happen
That will never happen in WV. Manchin is like McCain - he supports what he supports. He was for impeachment, he was for the $1T bill, he's given Dems control of the Senate. But you're not going to move him on other things. If you replace him in WV, you'll just lose a seat. Sinema is a bit more interesting.
I'd be curious what they think should be done about the supply chain problem. When you build an economy on just-in-time-inventory systems, the whole system is susceptible to breakdown if little things fall apart. It's the tradeoff of the brilliant Walmart business model that took over the US economy over the last 20 years. Agreed - the causes of this inflation are not the traditional causes of inflation. The solutions won't be the same either. This isn't something the Fed caused, nor is it something the Fed can fix. This is supply-chain driven.
related A Quick Update to the AllSides Media Bias Chart™ https://www.allsides.com/blog/quick-update-allsides-media-bias-chart excerpt
This is a HUGE mistake by Biden. Despite his promises and pushes by so many in the party to cancel some or all student loan debt he refuses to even make the attempt. He could easily kick that can down the road by extending the pause for another 6 months to a year citing Omicron. I don’t think he understands, restarting payments will not win him any points with the right wing “y’all took out the loans you need to pay them back dagnabbit” folks. All it will do his piss off his base who voted for him under the impression he would address the debt. He”s already facing an uphill battle with inflation and the BBB falling apart take the easy win right in front of you!!
