(01-13-2026, 05:32 PM)Harte Wrote: So it wasn't worth pointing out?
You know, it wasn't a criticism of you or anything you posted.
If you want that, I can do it. LOL

Harte

I can vouch Harte was criticizing my AI-assisted posts 

FWIW, I understand, but it would have taken me an hour to convey my point correcollectly 

I try and use AI for background and numbers, and i try and vett those especially when .....

 

I imagine, at one point back in the day people got pissy when everybody had an Encyclopedia Britannica...

(01-13-2026, 08:41 PM)UltraBudgie Wrote: [Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-AXHDeULGTk]

Oh yes, I totally remember now when Eminem interviewed Trump asking only mathematical questions - not.

WhyNot Science - YouTube channel

Perhaps you have not fully de-gullible'd about deepfakes yet?

(01-13-2026, 11:21 PM)chr0naut Wrote: Oh yes, I totally remember now when Eminem interviewed Trump asking only mathematical questions - not.

WhyNot Science - YouTube channel

Perhaps you have not fully de-gullible'd about deepfakes yet?

Of course I know about deepfakes. I've been to science museums.



...

(Insert joke about economic statistics being more fake than dinosaurs here, to remain on-topic)

(01-14-2026, 01:30 AM)UltraBudgie Wrote: Of course I know about deepfakes. I've been to science museums.



...

(Insert joke about economic statistics being more fake than dinosaurs here, to remain on-topic)

Like those 1,500% price reductions?

(01-12-2026, 08:41 AM)Harte Wrote: It is true however that trade deficits in general can't be argued as "good" OR "bad."

It depends on the reason for the trade deficit and its effects.
There are lots of different reasons trade deficits occur.

Trump's goal is to bring back manufacturing to the US, a lofty goal that likely won't pan out in any major way.
On the other hand, many countries, with China in the lead, steal intellectual property and produce knock offs with slave wages and tariffs are a way to try and limit that sort of thing. Other ways have been tried, and they have failed.
The side effect of tariffs is a lowering of the trade deficit.

Harte

What manufacturing has been brought back to the USA except car manufacturing, and only the high value, tariff-heavy models which the common person most likely will not be able to afford. The entry level models will still be made in Mexico, I just read.
 
Which other manufacturing has been brought back or is being built besides car, pharma and tech? All I see in the news are the smaller businesses going under.

(01-08-2026, 02:42 PM)Oldcarpy2 Wrote: No.

You believe anything your cognitive bias confirms.  No point in trying to educate you otherwise.

Do your own research.  I'm not going to spoon feed you.

You know a proper education in the USA is very expensive.

However, I realize that a good education actually takes years, and lots of work for teachers, and it would be an enormous, and probably wasted, effort to try and teach an adult who is complacent about their ignorance.

I think that there are online resources which should be easily searchable and understandable, even for Americans.

Here's just one:

(01-08-2026, 02:57 PM)MrGashler77 Wrote: I get such a kick out of people like you. 
"You need to get educated"
"Okay. Educate me"
"No. Do your own research. I'm not going to educate you."

You complain about cognitive bias, but then tell people to do their own research, and you probably don't understand the comedy in that do you?

I know from that response that you are unaware, but most university level subjects require a cumulation of years of academic effort. It is not possible, nor likely that you could absorb such information fully over social media.

However, if you do a search on the internet there are free resources that can give some basic education.

Here's just one (which I am fairly sure you will probably not watch in its entirety anyway, as OldCarpy pointed out, it is unlikely that you will abandon your cognitive bias):

(01-08-2026, 05:04 PM)putnam6 Wrote: This is exactly what happened in our industry. As our industry grew early 2000s, an overwhelming number of Chinese knockoffs flooded the market—not just a few, but loads of them. The industry had to establish a non-profit organization and raise capital to persuade Washington, D.C., to urge China to, pardon the pun, "knock it off." It took over a decade to finally get them to shut down the knock-off websites that directly targeted consumers and used foreign companies' intellectual property. A retail customer might see the same photograph that the legitimate company uses, but the knockoff product sent to the consumer doesn't resemble the original at all.

We sell top-shelf product. One of our top sellers in one season lost 1,238 units to fraudulent websites, which was approximately $370,000 in wholesale business lost on one design. This company had over 107 designs on just one knock-off website there were dozens of these sites

The numbers are staggering, and it's not just our sector 

Chinese wholesalers still compete with wholesale and retail sites, but they don't steal designs and images as prolifically.

And now, finally, due to Trump's terrible tariffs, American firms can sell retail products in China, and one of our long-time suppliers is opening a retail outlet; the firm is thinking of partnering and selling our brand there as well.

Huge untapped market, and the added cost is minimal

wanted to add 

We will always have a trade deficit with China, BUT we should always look for sectors to decrease the deficit

You are assuming that your company or sector should have a monopoly.

In truth, if your company or industry is 'protected' and becomes monopolistic, it usually means that it will raise consumer prices to as high as the market will bear.

Competition naturally moderates consumer prices.

Being undersold by competitors usually means that your prices are too high and your business processes need to be reviewed. Perhaps, even, your entire business model was based upon a situation which is unsustainable in the long term?

Propping that up artificially means that the businesses are reliant more on the props, than upon fairly priced sales volumes.

(01-09-2026, 07:35 PM)Knows Wrote: When Trump 1st took office the DOW Jones was about 19000. Now it's close to 50,000. I thought that was good? I think I'll steer clear of your University. 

Yes but the world was still recovering from the pandemic that Trump, in his first term, so amplified and then threw money at.

(01-11-2026, 08:35 AM)Solvedit Wrote: You dug up a Wikipedia article from the week after the market reacted to news of the tariffs.  Have you looked at any of the cited indices recently?

Yes, they have almost returned to levels of trading and business confidence notable during the Obama administration.

Have you also noticed that the USA is suddenly stealing oil and is desperate to take over resource rich lands, all in the space of less than a single month?

Perhaps, despite the hopefulness of speculators, and the governments self promotional bad math and statistical bait and switch, the USA is actually now totally broke?