Several years ago I read a book entitled “67 Reasons You Won’t Get Published and Three Why You Just Might.” or something like that.
It was laid out in a list/memo format, similar to Up the Organization.
The book was written by a publisher who read hundreds of submissions. Two of the reasons given for not taking on a potential book were:
You can’t spell,
and
You don’t know grammar.
Pretty basic right? I know I stop reading something as soon as I hit a me and numbnuts did yadda yadda yadda.
Look if you don’t know that you don’t put an objective pronoun as a subject than what else don’t you know?
I really don’t care. When I’ve suggested a “Numbnuts and I” correction I’ve gotten critized for being old school and a fuddy duddy. So be it. Fuck you. Fuck them. Fuck they (blah).
So when I read Paul Krugman’s latest piece and he said one of the problems Trump’s economic advisors have is they can’t do math I was remembering the “67 Reasons” book. Apparently, Peter Navarro et al think that slapping tariffs on mainly China will help our manufacturing capabilities. This is something olde Petey has been espousing for decades, despite cogent arguments to the contrary.
The other problem these advisors ignore is reality. That is the reality of how modern global economies work. Econ folks like to talk in simified terms like “guns and butter.” They construct models that start with the words “Given …” The problem I have learned is that no one seems to know if the givens are close to correct, and they also assume people work in their own best interests, and are rationale. All things I have come to question. Or as Rodney Dangerfield once said to an econ professor who asked where to build a factory given this and that, which Rodney had just shown was not true, “Build it in FantasyLand.”
So the other problem that Navarro and company have is they think slapping tariffs on goods coming into our country solves the problem by protecting our manufacturing. The majority of what we import in manufactured goods is parts and assemblies for things we put together. (like cars) So if our manufacturers have to pay more for the parts they get then final product is going to cost more (Should I add “period”? Or “Duh”?)
Not knowing how much the cost of what we import in parts and assemblies is, which they apparently don’t or don’t care, means they fail at math and I would say reality.
Trump promised to lower prices “on day one” and to increase the number of manufacturing jobs. He’s failed at both.
On to more items: Kristi Noem, now known as Ice-Barbie, has some guy in charge of ICE Security or some title like that. He went for a polygraph test and he failed it. His solution was to get rid of the people who set up the test. Claiming somehow he was tricked. Now bare in mind he didn’t need to take this test. He asked to take it. In fact, you have to sign your signature on a form requesting that you take the test. So, how is it “their” fault? Well, if I know Kristi and Donnie the solution is simple – deport him. He has a long name with lots of consonants in it. Looks kind of dark and swarty. Might be dangerous. Send him to – I don’t know – Kenya?
And then there is the ICE ad that’s been running during football games. Okay, ICE wants to hire people. You’d think the rational they give would be factual, but it isn’t. The ad claims terrorists were in this country hiding on January 11th. And that’s why ICE needs more peoplle – to hunt down these hidden terrorists. Excuse me, weren’t the terrorist on January 11th on the planes that flew here from Canada? So doesn’t that mean they weren’t here hiding in this country? Come on. Can’t you at least make a claim that isn’t a lie?
Ever onward. I guess we can be distracted from Epstein by The Great Gasighting Tour. Which kind of reminds me of W C Fields selling tonic out of the back of a wagon. The rube gives him a bill expecting a bottle and change. Instead Fields give him two bottles. “But I only wanted one.” “Yes, Yes. Well so do I. So do I, but I’ve got a whole wagon load.”
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