April 8, 2004
THE DEMOCRATIC HARVEY DENT:
Kerry hits Bush on steel tariffs _ but would not re-impose them (AP, April 5, 2004)
Kerry, speaking to about 17 reporters from political battleground states on both sides of the matter, said he supported the tariffs because "under the circumstances, it was an important grabbing-air moment.""I wouldn't re-impose them, but I would have let them play out the way they were promised," he said. "Once you put them in place, people have expectations. ... And if you, all of a sudden, upset that, you're really wreaking havoc in the market."
Wasn't that why Robert Byrd opposed the Emancipation Proclamation? Posted by Orrin Judd at April 8, 2004 12:03 AM
The price of steel is up by at least a third -- some steel products have doubled in price -- since the tariffs were lifted.
Posted by: David Cohen at April 8, 2004 7:37 AMDavid
The price of Cotton has gone thru the roof, since the Emancipation Proclamation. Will we never learn.
David:
So if tariffs kept prices down and lifting them raised them isn't classical economics obligated to do some explaining?
Posted by: oj at April 8, 2004 12:40 PM"... it was an important grabbing-air moment."
I admit to being dense, but I can't make any sense of this bit of Kerryspeak. Can anyone help me?
Posted by: jd watson at April 8, 2004 1:20 PMjd watson
I couldn't understand what it meant either, but I didn't won't to look like a fool, like being the first one to ask, if you know what I mean. But thanks.
Regardless "gave us breathing space"?? maybe
Posted by: h-man at April 8, 2004 2:05 PMOJ --
Tariffs didn't keep the price down. At best, they bridged a natural price cycle low to high, so that the mills started seeing price increases earlier than they otherwise would have.
It's possible, but unprovable, that prices now are somewhat lower than they would otherwise be because the tariffs kept some inefficient capacity in the industry.
The problem with practical economics is that there are many different forces acting on phenomena that present as one piece of data, like price. Even those of us who are convinced that removing tariffs puts downward pressure on prices can't say that prices will actually go down after tariffs are removed, because other effects, like increased demand or a coal mine fire in West Virginia, can come in and swamp that effect.
Posted by: David Cohen at April 8, 2004 2:58 PM"I would have voted for the tariffs before I voted against them."
Posted by: ralph phelan at April 8, 2004 4:35 PM