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Tag Archives: zero covid policy

Following Up: Podcast Now On-Line of National Radio Interview on the U.S., China, and De-Globalization

15 Tuesday Mar 2022

Posted by Alan Tonelson in Following Up

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CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor, CCP Virus, China, coronavirus, COVID 19, Following Up, globalization, Gordon G. Chang, John Batchelor, manufacturing, near-shoring, reshoring, Russia, supply chains, Ukraine, Ukraine-Russia war, Wuhan virus, zero covid policy

I’m pleased to announce that the podcast of my interview last night on the nationally syndicated “CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor” is now on-line.

Click here for a timely discussion with John and co-host Gordon G. Chang on whether the United States or China will hold the greatest advantages in a world where fragile international supply chains were de-globalizing even before the Ukraine-Russia war.

And keep checking in with RealityChek for news of upcoming media appearances and other developments

(What’s Left of) Our Economy: Americans’ Real Wages Keep Sinking

14 Monday Mar 2022

Posted by Alan Tonelson in (What's Left of) Our Economy

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CCP Virus, China, consumer price index, coronavirus, cost of living, COVID 19, CPI, energy, food, inflation, inflation-adjusted wages, living costs, lockdowns, private sector, real wages, Russia, sanctions, supply chains, Ukraine, Ukraine invasion, Ukraine-Russia war, wages, Wuhan virus, zero covid policy, {What's Left of) Our Economy

Last Thursday’s news coverage of U.S. inflation rates (as measured by the Labor Department’s Consumer Price Index, or CPI) rightly emphasized that the February headline figure hit its highest annual rate in 40 years. What such reports seem to have missed is something at least as important, especially for understanding why the American public seems so angry about these price hikes despite lots of other strong economic indicators.

Specifically, the same day the Labor Department released the new CPI numbers, it also posted data showing that after adjusting for inflation, wages for many major categories of U.S. workers saw their greatest drops in several months and in some cases longer than that. And much of the news was especially bad in manufacturing.

To start with the broadest grouping, in February, hourly pay for the average private sector worker fell on month by 0.80 percent, the worst such performance since the 1.72 percent decrease in June, 2020, early during the recovery from the CCP Virus’ first wave. (As known by RealityChek regulars, the Labor Department doesn’t track wages for government workers because those pay levels are mainly set by politicians’ decisions, and therefore say little about the fundamental state of the nation’s labor market or broader economy.)

For private sector production and nonsupervisory workers (who are often called blue-collar workers), the 0.86 real wage decline they experienced was also the worst since June, 2020 (1.30 percent).

On an annual basis, after-inflation wages in February sank for all private sector workers by 2.63 percent – the fastest pace since last May’s 2.67 percent. And for the blue-collar subset, they’re off by 1.93 percent – also the most since last May (2.69 percent).

Throughout manufacturing, these inflation-adjusted wages took major hits, too. For all workers in the sector, such pay dropped by 1.29 percent between January and February – the biggest falloff since May, 2020’s 1.76 percent. For industry’s blue-collar employees, they tumbled by 0.57 percent – the steepest since June, 2020’s 1.31 percent.

Much worse for manufacturing wages were the February year-on-year results. For manufacturing as a whole, they were down in after-inflation terms by 3.43 percent – the greatest decline since April, 2021’s 3.85 percent.

But the real stunner came for the production and nonsupervisory group. The 3.41 percent annual retreat in their real wages was the worst in more than 41 years – going back to July, 1980’s 3.90 percent.

And especially discouraging – with further price hikes in energy (and all the products and services that depend on it) and food seemingly certain because Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has disrupted global markets and supply chains anew, inflation-adjusted wages also seem likely to keep falling. The news that China has just locked down two big industrial cities in an attempt to fight a CCP Virus surge with its Zero Covid policy won’t help, either.

It’s true, as President Biden and his supporters keep noting, that growth is still strong, and that unemployment is way down.  But the former understandably can seem abstract, and high inflation means that even recent job gainers can’t be faulted for feeling that they’re falling behind economically despite paychecks resuming.  

 

Following Up: Podcast Now On-Line of National Radio Interview on China and Supply Chains

06 Thursday Jan 2022

Posted by Alan Tonelson in Following Up

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CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor, CCP Virus, China, coronavirus, COVID 19, Following Up, global supply chains, globalization, John Batchelor, logistics, manufacturing, supply chains, transportation, Wuhan virus, zero covid policy

I’m pleased to announce that the podcast is now on-line of my interview last night on the nationally syndicated “CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor.”

Click here for a timely discussion of whether the continuing and multiple snags in many China-centered global supply chains will prompt U.S. and other foreign-owned companies to hedge their production bets by cutting their reliance on Chinese operations.

And keep checking in with RealityChek for news of upcoming media appearances and other developments

Making News: Back on National Radio on Chinese Manufacturing and U.S. Supply Chain Security

05 Wednesday Jan 2022

Posted by Alan Tonelson in Making News

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Tags

CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor, CCP Virus, China, coronavirus, COVID 19, Gordon G. Chang, John Batchelor, Making News, manufacturing, supply chains, Wuhan virus, zero covid policy

I’m pleased to announce that tonight I’m scheduled to be back on the nationally syndicated “CBS Eye on the World with John Batchelor.” Air time for the segment is yet to be determined, but the show is on nightly between 9 PM and 1 AM EST, and you can listen live by visiting this link and clicking on the red button at the top center. 

On the agenda for John, co-host Gordon G. Chang, and me:  the outlook for China’s gigantic manufacturing sector – and how much of it will leave for the  United States and elsewhere to bolster supply chain resilience.

As usual, if you can’t tune in, the podcast will be posted as soon as it’s on-line.

And keep checking in with RealityChek for news of upcoming media appearances and other developments.

Blogs I Follow

  • Current Thoughts on Trade
  • Protecting U.S. Workers
  • Marc to Market
  • Alastair Winter
  • Smaulgld
  • Reclaim the American Dream
  • Mickey Kaus
  • David Stockman's Contra Corner
  • Washington Decoded
  • Upon Closer inspection
  • Keep America At Work
  • Sober Look
  • Credit Writedowns
  • GubbmintCheese
  • VoxEU.org: Recent Articles
  • Michael Pettis' CHINA FINANCIAL MARKETS
  • New Economic Populist
  • George Magnus

(What’s Left Of) Our Economy

  • (What's Left of) Our Economy
  • Following Up
  • Glad I Didn't Say That!
  • Golden Oldies
  • Guest Posts
  • Housekeeping
  • Housekeeping
  • Im-Politic
  • In the News
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  • Our So-Called Foreign Policy
  • The Snide World of Sports
  • Those Stubborn Facts
  • Uncategorized

Our So-Called Foreign Policy

  • (What's Left of) Our Economy
  • Following Up
  • Glad I Didn't Say That!
  • Golden Oldies
  • Guest Posts
  • Housekeeping
  • Housekeeping
  • Im-Politic
  • In the News
  • Making News
  • Our So-Called Foreign Policy
  • The Snide World of Sports
  • Those Stubborn Facts
  • Uncategorized

Im-Politic

  • (What's Left of) Our Economy
  • Following Up
  • Glad I Didn't Say That!
  • Golden Oldies
  • Guest Posts
  • Housekeeping
  • Housekeeping
  • Im-Politic
  • In the News
  • Making News
  • Our So-Called Foreign Policy
  • The Snide World of Sports
  • Those Stubborn Facts
  • Uncategorized

Signs of the Apocalypse

  • (What's Left of) Our Economy
  • Following Up
  • Glad I Didn't Say That!
  • Golden Oldies
  • Guest Posts
  • Housekeeping
  • Housekeeping
  • Im-Politic
  • In the News
  • Making News
  • Our So-Called Foreign Policy
  • The Snide World of Sports
  • Those Stubborn Facts
  • Uncategorized

The Brighter Side

  • (What's Left of) Our Economy
  • Following Up
  • Glad I Didn't Say That!
  • Golden Oldies
  • Guest Posts
  • Housekeeping
  • Housekeeping
  • Im-Politic
  • In the News
  • Making News
  • Our So-Called Foreign Policy
  • The Snide World of Sports
  • Those Stubborn Facts
  • Uncategorized

Those Stubborn Facts

  • (What's Left of) Our Economy
  • Following Up
  • Glad I Didn't Say That!
  • Golden Oldies
  • Guest Posts
  • Housekeeping
  • Housekeeping
  • Im-Politic
  • In the News
  • Making News
  • Our So-Called Foreign Policy
  • The Snide World of Sports
  • Those Stubborn Facts
  • Uncategorized

The Snide World of Sports

  • (What's Left of) Our Economy
  • Following Up
  • Glad I Didn't Say That!
  • Golden Oldies
  • Guest Posts
  • Housekeeping
  • Housekeeping
  • Im-Politic
  • In the News
  • Making News
  • Our So-Called Foreign Policy
  • The Snide World of Sports
  • Those Stubborn Facts
  • Uncategorized

Guest Posts

  • (What's Left of) Our Economy
  • Following Up
  • Glad I Didn't Say That!
  • Golden Oldies
  • Guest Posts
  • Housekeeping
  • Housekeeping
  • Im-Politic
  • In the News
  • Making News
  • Our So-Called Foreign Policy
  • The Snide World of Sports
  • Those Stubborn Facts
  • Uncategorized

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Current Thoughts on Trade

Terence P. Stewart

Protecting U.S. Workers

Marc to Market

So Much Nonsense Out There, So Little Time....

Alastair Winter

Chief Economist at Daniel Stewart & Co - Trying to make sense of Global Markets, Macroeconomics & Politics

Smaulgld

Real Estate + Economics + Gold + Silver

Reclaim the American Dream

So Much Nonsense Out There, So Little Time....

Mickey Kaus

Kausfiles

David Stockman's Contra Corner

Washington Decoded

So Much Nonsense Out There, So Little Time....

Upon Closer inspection

Keep America At Work

Sober Look

So Much Nonsense Out There, So Little Time....

Credit Writedowns

Finance, Economics and Markets

GubbmintCheese

So Much Nonsense Out There, So Little Time....

VoxEU.org: Recent Articles

So Much Nonsense Out There, So Little Time....

Michael Pettis' CHINA FINANCIAL MARKETS

New Economic Populist

So Much Nonsense Out There, So Little Time....

George Magnus

So Much Nonsense Out There, So Little Time....

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