Thursday, January 26, 2017

Trump the mercantilist, part 1

Trump is currently working on making America a manufacturing based economy again, focused on oil drilling. Manufacturing based economies are called secondary economies and petroleum drilling is an example of a resource extraction economy,  or primary economy. These terms are useful because they are now precise. The problem is that America has become a service based economy with much higher productivity than secondary economies like India. A programmer producing a program is more productive (as in the product creates more value pet hour worked) than someone sitting at a spinning wheel. This is reflected in the persons wages. Countries with secondary economies want to be tertiary with a better quality of life for themselves. Moving backwards doesn't make any sense and will hurt everyone in America.

We have seen politicians move backwards before, particularly in Canada when Stephen Harper moved Canada to become one of the biggest oil producers in the world. As a result the Canadian dollar has depressed in value. This meant Canadian oil is now cheaper abroad, but also that imports to Canada cost more, making Canadian workers have to spend more on imported goods. A few oil executives benefited substantially while everyone else has been harmed.

We are now looking at the same policy in the United States. Reducing free trade and imposing tariffs on other countries in an attempt to increase our exports will force our currency to be devalued in the market. Interest rates on borrowing will increase until the market clears. This means the dollar will crash and he will make our economy go back 100 years as he promised to where we are once again a manufacturing hub, this time with tens of millions of highly trained professionals struggling to make ends meet with the rampant inflation which is necessary for us to become a secondary economy again.

This scenario if everything goes through as he campaigned is also called a recession.

Tuesday, January 24, 2017

Washington State Legislature Party Breakdown

While looking for maps of the current legislative session by party I came up blank, so I made them myself. Feel free to use and distribute. The map I used as my base is in the public domain. The colors are fairly obvious, with blue being a Democrat controlled district, red being a Republican controlled district, and Purple meaning that the two representatives are from different parties.


Friday, January 20, 2017

Thursday, January 19, 2017

President Barack Obama

Today is a sad day for the world as the last full day of the Presidency of Barack Hussein Obama, Jr. Over the last 8 years I have graduated high school and college, and at 24 years old he has been president for a full third of my life. I have supported him through most of his Presidency, and have seen him make great changes for our country. He hasn't succeeded in all of his goals as President, but he has succeeded in health care which Democrats have been trying to get passed since President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. No matter what happens tomorrow, he will always be remembered for being a great man and a great president. When it comes to his work on gay rights, women's rights, and so many other social issues he stands out among Presidents for his good soul. I am grateful to live today in a country with an unemployment rate under 5%. I wish more of his proposals, such as expanding AMTRAK, and reducing college tuition had passed 6 and 7 years ago, but more than anything else I am glad as a disabled person that he fought for my right to have health care. No President is perfect, and there have certainly been times when I have wished you were more progressive, but all in all I think you did a fine job.

I love you President Obama, please stay in the public life, our country needs you. First Lady Michelle Obama, you are a brilliant lawyer with a heart as good as your husbands. I hope that you run for the Senate and continue your political legacy because it is obvious that you were heavily involved in helping your husband throughout these last 8 years make the right decisions through counsel. No person could ever face the bulk of challenges President Obama has faced alone. I believe our country needs you in office as soon as possible.