Hat trick! 3 economic disasters just this week . . .

Photo above - Can we charge this guy with election interference? He just vowed to nullify the vote by US Steel shareholders approving the sale of the company to Nippon Steel. Evidently being a stockholder carries zero rights now.

Forget the NHL playoffs (nobody watches those anyway). You can enjoy a hat trick – of bad economic news – just by reading the mainstream press this week.

First up: in case you believed inflation is licked, well Fed Chairman Jerome Powell doesn't. This is like 4th time Powell has reversed himself on rate cuts. Giving speeches is how he helps ordinary Americans cope with economic uncertainty. If the market gets too low, Powell gives a speech promising rate cuts “soon”. If the DJIA reaches new highs, like it did earlier this month, then it might be time to flip the script and admit inflation isn't actually under control after all. (see Axios link at bottom). I've been saying the same thing about inflation all year. Only a fool can pull up to a gas pump, or go house hunting, apply for a mortgage, etc. and believe there's no inflation. Simply making things more expensive to produce with higher interest rates doesn't necessarily make them cheaper for us at the cash register. Who would have ever guessed THAT? Well, stand by for Powell's next speech, which I'm sure will be soon. As we get closer to the election Powell will certainly announce that inflation is improving, and there might be rate cuts after all. Everyone hold your breath . . .

Second item – who doesn't love steel? We use it every day. Cars (even Tesla's). Refrigerators. Beams and girders for affordable housing apartments. Construction which is on hold due to 7% interest rate loans. Biden promises to block Japan from buying US steel and modernizing it. US Steel shareholders already approved the merger, so this smells like election interference, don't it? Biden just flew into Pittsburgh on Air Force One to protest the shareholder vote. Is US Steel the world's largest producer? No way – it's not even America's largest steel company. That would be Nucor. In fact, US Steel isn't even in the top 20 of world steel producers. That's probably because a bunch of US Steel's factories date back a century, and use technology which was state of the art when Kaiser Wilhem launched World War 1 by invading France. If some Japanese company buys US Steel it might be a threat to Biden's re-election chances with union members, but it's certainly not a threat to national security, or auto production. Union members – please remember how Biden stood up for you on election day. (See AP News link at bottom)

Last but not least – solar panels. If you want one, better hurry and buy it right now. The Biden administration is about to impose tariffs on Chinese made solar panels. (See Reuters link at bottom). Because Chinese panels are unfairly affordable. America does have 16 native solar panel manufacturers, but they're all bush league. If you can name one, I'll show you props. No . . .Elon Musk's “Solar City” doesn't count. They don't even make panels - they just install stuff made by somebody else. The combined annual capacity of America's 16 solar panel companies is less than half that of Tongwei, the worlds largest manufacturer. In fact, all 5 of the world's largest solar panel makers are in China, and every one of them individually is bigger than all 16 US companies combined. Let's figure out the end game here: is this “job creation” for US solar companies (which produce about 2% of the world's panels)? Or US political posturing at the Chinese boogey man, which will raise solar prices for ordinary people planning to go green?

I can't think of 3 more dangerous ways to make life miserable for us. Sky high interest rates. Refuse to modernize our industrial base and keep falling further behind the world. Impose tariffs on almost every solar panel. Only someone who doesn't understand economics could come up with ideas like these.

I'm just sayin' . . .

~Jerome Powell: Interest rates may stay high as inflation progress stalls (axios.com)~

~Biden vows to block US Steel acquisition by Japan’s Nippon Steel | AP News~

~Biden calls for higher tariffs on Chinese steel | Reuters~