Economics lession For Liberials

[Jroc]

I heard this on Levin again today, this is a great essay on how our economy works, even a liberal should be able to understand its simplicity: Read the whole piece if you haven't read it, this is only a teaser.

Introduction

By Lawrence W. Reed


Eloquent. Extraordinary. Timeless. Paradigm-shifting. Classic. Half a century after it first appeared, Leonard Read’s “I, Pencil” still evokes such adjectives of praise. Rightfully so, for this little essay opens eyes and minds among people of all ages. Many first-time readers never see the world quite the same agai

n....

Innumerable Antecedents
Just as you cannot trace your family tree back very far, so is it impossible for me to name and explain all my antecedents. But I would like to suggest enough of them to impress upon you the richness and complexity of my background.

My family tree begins with what in fact is a tree, a cedar of straight grain that grows in Northern California and Oregon. Now contemplate all the saws and trucks and rope and the countless other gear used in harvesting and carting the cedar logs to the railroad siding. Think of all the persons and the numberless skills that went into their fabrication: the mining of ore, the making of steel and its refinement into saws, axes, motors; the growing of hemp and bringing it through all the stages to heavy and strong rope; the logging camps with their beds and mess halls, the cookery and the raising of all the foods. Why, untold thousands of persons had a hand in every cup of coffee the loggers drink!

The logs are shipped to a mill in San Leandro, California. Can you imagine the individuals who make flat cars and rails and railroad engines and who construct and install the communication systems incidental thereto? These legions are among my antecedents.

Consider the millwork in San Leandro. The cedar logs are cut into small, pencil-length slats less than one-fourth of an inch in thickness. These are kiln dried and then tinted for the same reason women put rouge on their faces. People prefer that I look pretty, not a pallid white. The slats are waxed and kiln dried again. How many skills went into the making of the tint and the kilns, into supplying the heat, the light and power, the belts, motors, and all the other things a mill requires? Sweepers in the mill among my ancestors? Yes, and included are the men who poured the concrete for the dam of a Pacific Gas & Electric Company hydroplant which supplies the mill’s power!

Don’t overlook the ancestors present and distant who have a hand in transporting sixty carloads of slats across the nation.

Once in the pencil factory—$4,000,000 in machinery and building, all capital accumulated by thrifty and saving parents of mine—each slat is given eight grooves by a complex machine, after which another machine lays leads in every other slat, applies glue, and places another slat atop—a lead sandwich, so to speak. Seven brothers and I are mechanically carved from this “wood-clinched” sandwich.

My “lead” itself—it contains no lead at all—is complex. The graphite is mined in Ceylon [Sri Lanka]. Consider these miners and those who make their many tools and the makers of the paper sacks in which the graphite is shipped and those who make the string that ties the sacks and those who put them aboard ships and those who make the ships. Even the lighthouse keepers along the way assisted in my birth—and the harbor pilots.

The graphite is mixed with clay from Mississippi in which ammonium hydroxide is used in the refining process. Then wetting agents are added such as sulfonated tallow—animal fats chemically reacted with...

I, Pencil | Foundation for Economic Education

 

[jillian]

if it was on levin, it's not worth bothering with. *shrug*

but if it's simplistic, it explains why it would appeal to rightwingnuts.

 

[Jroc]

if it was on levin, it's not worth bothering with. *shrug*

but if it's simplistic, it explains why it would appeal to rightwingnuts.

So you would be that closed minded as to not even bother to read it? I must say I'm disappointed you my friend.

 

[uscitizen]

I heard this on Levin again today, this is a great essay on how our economy works, even a liberal should be able to understand its simplicity: Read the whole piece if you haven't read it, this is only a teaser.

Introduction

By Lawrence W. Reed


Eloquent. Extraordinary. Timeless. Paradigm-shifting. Classic. Half a century after it first appeared, Leonard Read’s “I, Pencil” still evokes such adjectives of praise. Rightfully so, for this little essay opens eyes and minds among people of all ages. Many first-time readers never see the world quite the same agai

n....

Innumerable Antecedents
Just as you cannot trace your family tree back very far, so is it impossible for me to name and explain all my antecedents. But I would like to suggest enough of them to impress upon you the richness and complexity of my background.

My family tree begins with what in fact is a tree, a cedar of straight grain that grows in Northern California and Oregon. Now contemplate all the saws and trucks and rope and the countless other gear used in harvesting and carting the cedar logs to the railroad siding. Think of all the persons and the numberless skills that went into their fabrication: the mining of ore, the making of steel and its refinement into saws, axes, motors; the growing of hemp and bringing it through all the stages to heavy and strong rope; the logging camps with their beds and mess halls, the cookery and the raising of all the foods. Why, untold thousands of persons had a hand in every cup of coffee the loggers drink!

The logs are shipped to a mill in San Leandro, California. Can you imagine the individuals who make flat cars and rails and railroad engines and who construct and install the communication systems incidental thereto? These legions are among my antecedents.

Consider the millwork in San Leandro. The cedar logs are cut into small, pencil-length slats less than one-fourth of an inch in thickness. These are kiln dried and then tinted for the same reason women put rouge on their faces. People prefer that I look pretty, not a pallid white. The slats are waxed and kiln dried again. How many skills went into the making of the tint and the kilns, into supplying the heat, the light and power, the belts, motors, and all the other things a mill requires? Sweepers in the mill among my ancestors? Yes, and included are the men who poured the concrete for the dam of a Pacific Gas & Electric Company hydroplant which supplies the mill’s power!

Don’t overlook the ancestors present and distant who have a hand in transporting sixty carloads of slats across the nation.

Once in the pencil factory—$4,000,000 in machinery and building, all capital accumulated by thrifty and saving parents of mine—each slat is given eight grooves by a complex machine, after which another machine lays leads in every other slat, applies glue, and places another slat atop—a lead sandwich, so to speak. Seven brothers and I are mechanically carved from this “wood-clinched” sandwich.

My “lead” itself—it contains no lead at all—is complex. The graphite is mined in Ceylon [Sri Lanka]. Consider these miners and those who make their many tools and the makers of the paper sacks in which the graphite is shipped and those who make the string that ties the sacks and those who put them aboard ships and those who make the ships. Even the lighthouse keepers along the way assisted in my birth—and the harbor pilots.

The graphite is mixed with clay from Mississippi in which ammonium hydroxide is used in the refining process. Then wetting agents are added such as sulfonated tallow—animal fats chemically reacted with...

I, Pencil | Foundation for Economic Education

I thought all the pencils were made in China now?

 

[jillian]

if it was on levin, it's not worth bothering with. *shrug*

but if it's simplistic, it explains why it would appeal to rightwingnuts.

So you would be that closed minded as to not even bother to read it? I must say I'm disappointed you my friend.

why would i waste my time reading something that's BS?

 

[jillian]

I thought all the pencils were made in China now?

and therein lies the real economic lesson.

 

[edthecynic]

if it was on levin, it's not worth bothering with. *shrug*

but if it's simplistic, it explains why it would appeal to rightwingnuts.

So you would be that closed minded as to not even bother to read it? I must say I'm disappointed you my friend.

Anyone with a brain knows that the whining, screaming maniac with a girl's soprano voice Levin is a DICK!.

 

[uscitizen]

Hmmm, learn some global economics right wingers.

Friday, August 12, 2005
US Pencil Imports Continue Growth
The latest update to US import statistics for wood cased pencils support the growth trend experienced for some years now. Over the past 5 years through 2004 pencil imports into the US have increased at an average annual rate of 6.0% on a dollar value basis and of 7.8% on a unit volume basis. This is reflects an average annual reduction of 1.8% in import prices over this period. In total 2004 unit volume imports were 17.6 million gross (this 2.5 billion pieces for the year or almost 9 pencils per capita).

Our own estimates indicate that imported pencils now represent approximately two-thirds of the total US annual consumption on a unit volume basis. We estimate that the share of US manufactured pencils has dropped from around 50% of the market just three or four years ago.

Timberlines: US Pencil Imports Continue Growth

 

[uscitizen]

Lesson 2 on the economics of pencils for right wingers.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005
Pencil Anti-Dumping Duties: Primer
The following is the first of a series of Timberlines articles to be posted in the coming weeks discussing the impact various world trade issues and practices have upon the Pencil Industry.

Import and export duties, value added taxes, export credits or export VAT rebates, fixed currency exchange rates are all examples of factors that impact trade flows around the world. Such meddling with what “free market thinkers” would call free and unrestricted trade is a common practice from nation to nation. Certainly the World Trade Organization and other regional trading block agreements such as NAFTA, various EU agreements, APEC, ASEAN and MERCOSUR work to liberalize such trade barriers worldwide. However, there is clearly a level of relative national and regional competitive advantage to be gained when countries set their policies regarding these market influencing instruments. Often the duty policies of one or more countries for given products are set as retaliation for or to correct perceived unfair trade practices of another particular country.

The pencil industry is no exception to this situation and a number of these market “interventions” or “correction factors” (depending upon where you come out on the free trade scale) exist within our industry. Today’s topic of anti-dumping duties is just one such example. Currently, several countries worldwide have implemented incremental Anti-Dumping duties specifically placed upon imported Chinese pencils as a result of lobbying from local pencil manufacturer groups. These anti-dumping duties are imposed over and above any normal import duty pencils may be subject to. Among such countries with Anti-Dumping duties are the United States, Mexico and Turkey. I expect there may be some others of which I am not currently aware. For these three countries, anti-dumping duties range from just over 100% to over 400% of the invoice value of the pencils.

Here in the US the current country wide anti-dumping deposit rate for pencils exported from China to the USA is 114.9%. The importer of record is required to “deposit” funds into an escrow type account upon importation of the pencils. This rate is applicable to all imported Chinese pencils, unless a specific Chinese exporter/producer has gone through an administrative review process with the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) to have their company audited for a reduced rate. However, this is an expensive and very complicated audit process and as such not many Chinese companies pursue reduced dumping margin rates. Currently, four Chinese entities or combined manufacturer/export company groups (including our own subsidiary facility) have received reduced dumping deposit rates ranging from 0% (ours) to around 23%. In effect these companies have demonstrated that they are not dumping pencils or should not be at the China-wide rate for the most recently reviewed period. Under DOC rules the country wide rate is set by the highest rate determined for any given Chinese company that ever requested a review by DOC. As such the original rate of around 53% was increased to the current 114.9% level a few years back.

Timberlines: Pencil Anti-Dumping Duties: Primer

 

[Jroc]

if it was on levin, it's not worth bothering with. *shrug*

but if it's simplistic, it explains why it would appeal to rightwingnuts.

So you would be that closed minded as to not even bother to read it? I must say I'm disappointed you my friend.

why would i waste my time reading something that's BS?

How do you know if it's BS if you don't even read it? This essay was originally written when Levin was about a year old..I just heard it read on Levin, he has nothing to do with the piece ,I shouldn't even have mentioned him

 

[jillian]

So you would be that closed minded as to not even bother to read it? I must say I'm disappointed you my friend.

why would i waste my time reading something that's BS?

How do you know if it's BS if you don't even read it? This essay was originally written when Levin was about a year old..I just heard it read on Levin, he has nothing to do with the piece ,I shouldn't even have mentioned him

if i gave you a link from DU or from the communist workers party, (not that i would), would you bother with it?

the answer's no.

and your "source" is as bogus to me as those others would be.

 

[uscitizen]

So you would be that closed minded as to not even bother to read it? I must say I'm disappointed you my friend.

why would i waste my time reading something that's BS?

How do you know if it's BS if you don't even read it? This essay was originally written when Levin was about a year old..I just heard it read on Levin, he has nothing to do with the piece ,I shouldn't even have mentioned him

Yeah and it was valid when he was 1 yr old, but not valid now.

 

[whitehall]

Do libs really think taxing our way out of an economic problem is the way to go? Take the history of Social Security for example. The federal government stole the money at first and later LBJ made it "legal" that all FICA taxes belonged to Congress. There was never a locked box. Politicians stole the lock and the box not to mention the contents. The point is that Americans are at the point in history when they realize that congress can't be trusted. Any new tax is like giving a community activist a stolen ATM card. The federal government needs to cut spending.

 

[percysunshine]

This is a lesson in economics for liberals? Isn't that like a lesson in typing for seals?

 

[Jroc]

why would i waste my time reading something that's BS?

How do you know if it's BS if you don't even read it? This essay was originally written when Levin was about a year old..I just heard it read on Levin, he has nothing to do with the piece ,I shouldn't even have mentioned him

if i gave you a link from DU or from the communist workers party, (not that i would), would you bother with it?

the answer's no.

and your "source" is as bogus to me as those others would be.

What are you talking about? that link is not for Levin, What source are you Referring to? what exactly are you talking about ? I think you've been on these boards too long.

 

[Jroc]

why would i waste my time reading something that's BS?

How do you know if it's BS if you don't even read it? This essay was originally written when Levin was about a year old..I just heard it read on Levin, he has nothing to do with the piece ,I shouldn't even have mentioned him

Yeah and it was valid when he was 1 yr old, but not valid now.

The principles are still valid it's politicians and big government that get in the way of the free market.

 

[Moonglow]

How do you know if it's BS if you don't even read it? This essay was originally written when Levin was about a year old..I just heard it read on Levin, he has nothing to do with the piece ,I shouldn't even have mentioned him

Yeah and it was valid when he was 1 yr old, but not valid now.

The principles are still valid it's politicians and big government that get in the way of the free market.

No it is not. You can still operate a business that caters to the populace ,and you can still earn a living. The free market is in more danger from corporations trying to monopolize than govt. regs.
But then again monopolies have advantages and disdvantages, which is true about any condition.

 

[Jroc]

Yeah and it was valid when he was 1 yr old, but not valid now.

The principles are still valid it's politicians and big government that get in the way of the free market.

No it is not. You can still operate a business that caters to the populace ,and you can still earn a living. The free market is in more danger from corporations trying to monopolize than govt. regs.
But then again monopolies have advantages and disdvantages, which is true about any condition.

There is a limited role for government but it's not the government’s job to run business. Tell them what kind of cars they have to drive ,what kind of light bulb they have to use, what kind of health insurance they have to buy, what kind of toilette they must use ect.. They are killing the free market

 

[Jroc]

why would i waste my time reading something that's BS?

How do you know if it's BS if you don't even read it? This essay was originally written when Levin was about a year old..I just heard it read on Levin, he has nothing to do with the piece ,I shouldn't even have mentioned him

if i gave you a link from DU or from the communist workers party, (not that i would), would you bother with it?

the answer's no.

and your "source" is as bogus to me as those others would be.

FOUNDATION FOR ECONOMIC EDUCATION

Freedom’s Home Since 1946

The Foundation for Economic Education (FEE), the oldest free-market organization in the United States, was established in 1946 by Leonard E. Read to study and advance the freedom philosophy. FEE’s mission is to offer the most consistent case for the first principles of freedom: the sanctity of private property, individual liberty, the rule of law, the free market, and the moral superiority of individual choice and responsibility over coercion

http://www.fee.org/library/books/i-pencil-2/

 

[flacaltenn]

jillian::

if i gave you a link from DU or from the communist workers party, (not that i would), would you bother with it?

the answer's no.

and your "source" is as bogus to me as those others would be.

Of course I would read it.. At least until I ascertained it was an insult to my intelligience.. Like a recently posted Rolling Stone/Al Gore screed on the USMB Enviro Bd. I only made it to the 4th paragraph of that one..

That's how I developed my political spine. By having simultaneous subscriptions to Mother Jones, National Review or sometimes The Nation and Reason.. Even loved Pacifica Commie Radio..
But over the years, I decided I didn't want to be on the team that consistently got their asses kicked BECAUSE they weren't curious enough to sample facts, reason, logic and history from the other side.