![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Nov. 19th, 2003 07:05 amToo early to think. Too early to do. Too freaking early to be up after an all-nighter. Argh. Hate. Papers... sometimes. -_-;;
Off to class...
Off to class...
Nov. 19th, 2003
(no subject)
Nov. 19th, 2003 08:15 am
I got to school safely, which is an amazing feat, considering that it's snowing and raining like crazy here. >_< I would hate to be in the North right now.
In other news; huh?
"Marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman," he said. "Today's decision ... violates this important principle. I will work with congressional leaders and others to do what is legally necessary to defend the sanctity of marriage."
I have to ask; what sanctity of marriage? Unless the ----- outlaws divorce, there no longer is a sanctity of marriage. That died a long time ago... say, with the Victorian era? It's kind of funny, and a bit sad, that the person representing out country could be so out of it. You know, sometimes I think he should be kept around, you know, kind of like a court jester. If he wasn't, we wouldn't have all these amusing things to hear. -_-
The WTO (be you feel goodly or badly about this organization) has ruled that US tariffs on steel is illegal and against WTO laws. A good number of countries, from Japan to the EU have threatened retaliation because the US essentially is protecting itself, though it's accused other countries of doing the same thing. This is old news, but the fact that the US is tangled in a messy and unpopular war, the fact that Japan is struggling on the idea of whether they should break their nearly-sixty year constitutional law of absolutely no offensive military action, since the US has put a cap on China's textiles (prompting further anti-Americanism in all of Asia)... well, there's a lot more, but let's say the US is going to suffer some serious problems if Bush doesn't get his act together. Or rather, stop listening to his corporate buddies.
The yen's value is rising, as is the Euro, and the IMF (Intenational Monetary Fund) has supported China, saying that strengthening the yuan at the moment was risky for the country (and therefore, surrounding contries) and had no immediate reason, anyways. The IMF has stated that there is no basis to the US accusation that China is intentionally devaluing the yuan in order to keep foreign companies (which, on another note, are often places of serious human right violations) in China and from seeking cheaper places to build.
With the dollar's slide, the yuan is sliding too, since it's fixed at 8.3 yuan to the US dollar, so exports are cheaper, prompting complaints from... well, a lot of businesses that are 'hurt' from China's cheaper products.
Now, what's surprising (to me at least) is the fact that the US has been steadily losing now for a number of things. The steel tariffs came in effect last March, as sort of an 'emergency action' and it looked like a good thing (to the US, though not to the world) at the time. But the EU is contesting and promising sanctions if the US doesn't comply with the WTO ruling. This, to me, is an interesting development. In general.
Going from economic powerhouse to economic liability is probably not something the Bush Administration wants to be recorded in history as occuring during his regime, but it might just, twenty or thirty years from now. The US can't exactly take on the world, and considering that the world is now criticizing many US policies... I just find it interesting from an IS:C point of view.
Personally, I think the textiles cap will hurt the US more than it'll help. There are more sellers of textiles than buyers, and considering that Wal-Mart is the largest private employer (CNN), and it's also one of the largest importers of China's goods... *shakes head* I see baaaaadddddd things in the future.
In other news; huh?
"Marriage is a sacred institution between a man and a woman," he said. "Today's decision ... violates this important principle. I will work with congressional leaders and others to do what is legally necessary to defend the sanctity of marriage."
I have to ask; what sanctity of marriage? Unless the ----- outlaws divorce, there no longer is a sanctity of marriage. That died a long time ago... say, with the Victorian era? It's kind of funny, and a bit sad, that the person representing out country could be so out of it. You know, sometimes I think he should be kept around, you know, kind of like a court jester. If he wasn't, we wouldn't have all these amusing things to hear. -_-
The WTO (be you feel goodly or badly about this organization) has ruled that US tariffs on steel is illegal and against WTO laws. A good number of countries, from Japan to the EU have threatened retaliation because the US essentially is protecting itself, though it's accused other countries of doing the same thing. This is old news, but the fact that the US is tangled in a messy and unpopular war, the fact that Japan is struggling on the idea of whether they should break their nearly-sixty year constitutional law of absolutely no offensive military action, since the US has put a cap on China's textiles (prompting further anti-Americanism in all of Asia)... well, there's a lot more, but let's say the US is going to suffer some serious problems if Bush doesn't get his act together. Or rather, stop listening to his corporate buddies.
The yen's value is rising, as is the Euro, and the IMF (Intenational Monetary Fund) has supported China, saying that strengthening the yuan at the moment was risky for the country (and therefore, surrounding contries) and had no immediate reason, anyways. The IMF has stated that there is no basis to the US accusation that China is intentionally devaluing the yuan in order to keep foreign companies (which, on another note, are often places of serious human right violations) in China and from seeking cheaper places to build.
With the dollar's slide, the yuan is sliding too, since it's fixed at 8.3 yuan to the US dollar, so exports are cheaper, prompting complaints from... well, a lot of businesses that are 'hurt' from China's cheaper products.
Now, what's surprising (to me at least) is the fact that the US has been steadily losing now for a number of things. The steel tariffs came in effect last March, as sort of an 'emergency action' and it looked like a good thing (to the US, though not to the world) at the time. But the EU is contesting and promising sanctions if the US doesn't comply with the WTO ruling. This, to me, is an interesting development. In general.
Going from economic powerhouse to economic liability is probably not something the Bush Administration wants to be recorded in history as occuring during his regime, but it might just, twenty or thirty years from now. The US can't exactly take on the world, and considering that the world is now criticizing many US policies... I just find it interesting from an IS:C point of view.
Personally, I think the textiles cap will hurt the US more than it'll help. There are more sellers of textiles than buyers, and considering that Wal-Mart is the largest private employer (CNN), and it's also one of the largest importers of China's goods... *shakes head* I see baaaaadddddd things in the future.