Denial springs eternal

[ocelotl]

Re: Denial springs eternal

It wasn't intended to be a commentary on NAFTA per se, but I'm gonna have to go along with Zoog on this one. Anything that requires thousands of pages to define "free trade" can't really be very free. In general, a forcible intervention in the marketplace - all the more so one that requires an army of lawyers and bureaucrats to interpret and implement - is a lose-lose proposition for the market participants at least on a net basis. If, for example, you and I were to engage in a free exchange, we do so because each of us believes he will benefit. An external interference or forcible modification therefore can only hobble our ability to achieve what we ourselves deem in our own best interests.

This of course is not to claim that the net result is symmetric. My observation is with respect to the US, and since the direction of the US economy has been down and presumably the interest of the US government is the welfare of the US, it is more than an open question whether its aggressive globalization policy is playing its advertised role.

In my opinion, most of general public opinion about Nafta results of comparisons with the pre-NAFTA situation in both US, Canada and Mexico.

While we had a protective state up to the 70's here in Mexico, that built the default and crisis prevailing since 1973, both industry and service jobs were mostly life jobs, and production was intended just for local consumption in manufactured appliances, exports of Mexican manufactured stuff was a novelty in 1985, now there are things that are produced around here and distributed throughout the world (Most VW Beetles are produced in San Martín Texmelucan, Puebla, Most PT Cruisers are made in Toluca, México and at least once all the HP inkjet printers were made in El Salto, Jalisco)

Most of the hype at the time when we joined GATT was that internal manufacture was not of high quiality, since it was protected against foreign competition, as well as local agriculture, banking and market distribution. Same happened with NAFTA.

In the middle 80's, when I was in High School, most of our teachers told us that the intention of opening trade with the rest of the world was "to devastate local industry, opening it to transnationals, and turn our agriculture to support only horticulture". In that aspect, they haven't been fully wrong or fully right, but the nationalist rethoric under which most people grew, makes us tend to dismiss more the good aspects of the treaty than the negative ones. And IMHO, it is a similar development and feeling in both US and Canada.

[Slimprofits]

Re: Denial springs eternal

Dow Chemical to raise prices, again

Scrambling to preserve its margins, the Midland, Mich.-based chemical giant said it would boost prices in July by as much as 25% and effective Aug. 1, add freight surcharges of $300 per truck shipment and $600 per rail shipment.

Newell Rubbermaid to drop products, raise prices

...Newell Rubbermaid said Tuesday it will exit several different lines, raise prices on others by as much as 22 percent and cut an unspecified number of jobs.

"In recent weeks, input cost inflation has accelerated dramatically, especially in resin, which is the largest single component of our cost of goods," Mark Ketchum, Newell Rubbermaid's president and chief executive, said in a statement.

"Unfortunately we don't see this situation reversing course. In categories where resin is a high percentage of cost of goods sold and the consumer's willingness to pay for innovation is low, the economics are no longer viable."

Like other companies, Atlanta-based Newell Rubbermaid — whose consumer brands include Sharpie pens, Rubbermaid trash bins and Goody health and beauty products — has sought to deal with rising costs for raw materials by cutting expenses and raising prices on some products.

Newell Rubbermaid has been particularly hit because it's a heavy user of plastics.

...Newell Rubbermaid, which uses 700 million pounds of resin a year, has seen costs for that raw material go up 60 percent in the last year, said David Doolittle, a company spokesman.

Minerals Technologies raising price of talc

July 07, 2008: 01:34 PM EST

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - Minerals Technologies Inc., which makes specialty mineral products, said Monday it is raising the price of talc by as much as 10 percent because of higher fuel and energy costs.

The company's Barretts Minerals Inc. subsidiary will increase prices for talc produced at its Barretts, Mont., facility by 8 percent to 10 percent, depending on the product.

The change becomes effective Aug. 1, or as permitted by contract.

TOR Minerals International hiking prices on titanium dioxide color pigments as costs rise

July 02, 2008: 02:16 PM EST

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - TOR Minerals International Inc., which makes pigments and specialty minerals, said Wednesday it is raising prices on all its titanium dioxide color pigments to offset higher costs.

Effective July 1, or as permitted by contracts, prices for all titanium dioxide color pigment products will increase by as much as 5 cents per pound. This price increase is in addition to price increases put into effect in January.

P&G raising prices

Cincinnati-based P&G will raise the price of goods from Pepto Bismol to Tide detergent to Gillette shave gel by as much as 16 percent in September or October, spokesman Paul Fox said this morning.