DOGE a mirage.
Allan
Oh manā¦loved those tomatoes. Big beefsteaks were the best.
2 Likes
They said we couldnāt grow good wine grapes and look how that turned out.
2 Likes
Cool.
Which crop that we currently grow, which farms that we currently use to produce āxā, which workers who are currently doing āyā should we recruit into this newfound industry growing vanilla because weāve decided we donāt like Madagascar?
People talk like thereās no such economic concept as scarcity except when it comes to funding the government.
Iāve got a better idea (but @WuWei wonāt like it.)
Stuff we cannot make/grow here (like vanilla beans) we just tax it and thereby reduce the deficit.
Which is better deficits or taxes?
āWeā? Donāt worry about it, itāll take care of itself.
As soon as the need gets ālucrativeā enough, somebody will fill it.
Iām fine with it. As soon as the tax reached the point of diminishing returns, somebody will grow it here.
1 Like
Or . . . people will buy imitation vanilla
Or . . . people will use less vanilla and more of something else
Or . . . vanilla will be taxed. (I am not sure that deficits are always and everywhere better than taxes.)
I donāt really care about the deficit with Madagascar or vanilla. I donāt like it when some crit says Americans canāt do something.
1 Like
Well the thing is
if they can grow spinach in manhattan
($0.89 to $2.23 per pound in suburban supermarkets)
they can grow vanilla beans in manhattan
($70.30 to $111.35 per pound in suburban supermarkets)
Or have libs abandoned that whole ābuy localā thing since there is an (R) in the Whitehouse?
1 Like
Because thatās what āreciprocalā means, to put tarrifs on all countries that put tarrifs or other trade barriers on the US. RECIPROCAL! Why is that a difficult concept for you guys?
3 Likes
Compared to France Napa and Sonoma are tiny. Yes great wines but bottle to bottle much more expensive for similar quality and much much lower production levels. Still a hoot!
But regardless today nearly all vanilla comes from Madagascar.
1 Like
You pin wonāt reduce the deficit becuae your tax will stifle economic activity which will lower tax receipts.
Or people will
Stop
Buying vanilla ice cream.
I know what it means. Iām asking why would you do it.
Itās not about whether or not we CAN. We can produce textiles too - and probably do it better than anyone in the world. We can probably make better plastic toys than any country in the world.
But resources are scarce and we canāt produce everything.
1 Like
We spent decades creating a vanilla market in Madagascar for US buyers like McCormick. Deidicated USAID to making a viable market for a US company while supporting Madagascar communities.
Trump comes along and blows it up overnight because the people of Madagascar and their $400 per capita income donāt buy enough from us
1 Like
And if China (and Vietnam) allowed land ownership, and labor unions, and allowed people to move out of towns with a labor surplus and into other towns.
And if China didnāt have two currencies (as a non-tariff barrier to trade)
And if China didnāt manipulate its currency.
And if China didnāt subsidize steel and autos and energy and fish farms etc.
Then what would the market likely choose as best uses of our scarce resources?
1 Like
We can make and grow literally anything here. If it can be made in the world it can be made in the US. But we face tradeoffsā¦
1 Like
