Why bother with knowledge?

From the New York Times editorial: Challenging China.

The administration announced yesterday that it was filing two cases against China at the World Trade Organization. The first is over China’s failure to crack down on pirated goods like movies and books. It will also challenge Chinese restrictions on the distribution of foreign films, music and more.

A trade war would do more harm to American business than to China’s subsidies. What would happen to Boeing if the steel used in its jets became more expensive?

What fuckin' steel?

Steel is way too heavy to make airplanes out of. Everyone knows that they are made out of aluminum, titanium, and other composite materials (which are both lightweight and strong.)

Secondly, the vast majority of that is manufactured right here in America (even if the companies are global, or the raw materials sourced from elsewhere.)

Have the editors heard of Kaiser Aluminum? or Toray?

The irony of ironies is that while a trade war is definitely a bad thing, the one beneficiary of a "weak-dollar policy" would be Boeing (in the short term.) They actually make a product that the world wants, and have the capacity to build it.

Quelle grande surprise!

Lastly, cracking down on subsidies is exactly the right thing to do from an economic standpoint. Subsidized industries hardly constitute "free trade".

But why bother checking facts when you can fulminate inanely on the pulpit?

Man! Even toilet paper is more useful than the "paper of record"!