27 thoughts on “How the Manufacturing and Agriculture Credit Saved Wisconsin Manufacturing

  1. Samuel

    I am genuinely curious without making this into a partisan issue. It seems like a case could be made that the Trump tariffs hit small/rural manufacturers with less ability to move supply chains especially hard.

  2. Julian Silk

    Dear Menzie,

    This turns into a question for you. I think Samuel may be right. Is there something particular about Wisconsin manufacturing, as he is suggesting, that might have caused this regardless of the Scott Walker policies?

    Julian

    1. Menzie Chinn Post author

      Julian Silk: Yes – Wisconsin does not produce steel; it uses steel. That’s true of some other states as well. California, which still has rising manufacturing employment through October, relies on non-California sources for raw steel.

      1. Julian Silk

        Thank you very much. This is a big item. It would be interesting to know whether there were any incentives put in for Wisconsin firms to use American steel, at higher prices or lower quality, so that they could qualify for the incentives and try to bring the steel into competitiveness.

        1. Menzie Chinn Post author

          Julian Silk: No incentives of that sort in the Trump program, as far as I know. More importantly, we have no idea what firms have received exemptions from Section 232 tariffs, and for what reasons. At least I don’t. There is apparently zero transparency here.

          1. Moses Herzog

            If you fiddle around here you might find some vague/spotty answers. Some company/names mentioned in the dark blue box links towards the right side.
            https://www.commerce.gov/page/section-232-investigations

            See. I would be curious to know how U.S. imports from a place like Turkey would be fairing over the last couple years (exclusions vs other places). Jason Leopold over at Buzzfeed is the grandmaster of open records requests. I wonder if he has sent anything on this already?? I bet if a well-respected professor on international trade sent him a twitter DM discussing where there could be high chance of corruption here, at least a 50/50 chance Leopold would “sniff” that one out.

          2. Moses Herzog

            Speaking of Jason Leopold, I saw this story in his Twitter feed:
            https://nypost.com/2019/11/22/washington-post-quietly-changes-story-on-altered-russia-probe-document/amp/

            I’ve felt for a very long time, that there is more to the Carter Page story than we have ever heard. I mean on a level with our boys Manafort and Giuliani. This has been a strong contention of mine for awhile now. The media implication has always been “Hey this guy is just not that smart, he’s the patsy sitting at the poker table, and he’s too dumb to be anyone important”. But is this not the type/category donald trump often chooses to do the worst of his beckoning?? Is the mental capacity of a Giuliani of 2019 the same mental capacity of the Giuliani we saw assist in breaking the old school mob?? Some who knew him in the New York State prosecutors office describe him now as if he’s a person they don’t know at all (personality wise). What were other ambassadors and State Dept officials saying about Gordon Sondland’s abilities and intelligence, but where was he located in the Ukraine mess?? Was he not “front and center” to the Ukraine events as the old saying goes?? Something has yet to be unveiled about Carter Page. I’m telling you folks, something is there:

      2. The Rage

        California’s manufacturing employment is still rising…………not for long. That is when the real fun begins. California lags the cycle, when investment turns down there, its over for the expansion.

      3. Samuel

        Dear Dr. Chinn,

        Thanks for the reply. This helps me to understand what is going on here in Wisconsin. Small rural manufacturers that produce trailers, farm equipment and have no political pull are getting hit hard by these tariffs. But it is odd to me, that the GOP by favoring their rich donors are also causing a hollowing out of rural communities with loss of jobs and their rural voter base is dying off from stress-related illness, etc. (https://www.usnews.com/news/health-news/articles/2019-11-07/rural-americans-dying-more-from-preventable-causes-than-city-dwellers)

        Keep up the good work.
        Thanks
        Samuel

  3. Moses Herzog

    Thought I would put this in this thread, because I don’t want to taint Menzie’s most recent thread which is geared towards students’ benefit.

    Is Fiona Hill not a VERY impressive woman?? Such a sharp mind and so articulate. Fiona Hill is the model example of what a “public servant” should be. And I think as someone who used to work as a “public servant” on the Council of Economic Advisors, this is something Menzie admires also (but I am only guessing)

    I’m not certain if my comment is related to “my problem with women”, you’d have to ask the man in Virginia who works at a University named after a slave owner.

    1. Barkley Rosser

      Do keep in mind, Moses, that Menzie works at a uni located in a city named for the same slave owner (Madison).

      1. Moses Herzog

        I’m still pulling for you Barkley. You could help rectify (to a small degree anyway) some of the disgusting acts of the Confederacy by leading the call for change. Of course, then you’d have to admit it’s an immoral name. That’s a tall order for you and the folks in Virginia isn’t it Barkley??
        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_university_and_college_name_changes_in_the_United_States

        No one should be forced to make change if it interferes with their own god complex. No one should have to change the core of their personality to set a positive example for young people.

        1. Barkley Rosser

          JMU has just opened a dorm named for Madison’d most famous dlave, Paul Jennings, who helped Dolly out after James died. People at JMU are aware there is an issue here and are working to deal with it. But nobody is going to change the name of the place over his having been a slaveowner. He was the Father of the Constitution. Sorry, redneck boy, not going to play your game.

    2. pgl

      When she noted what Sondland was doing was a “domestic political errand” you could see the Republican counsel wince for setting her up with his questioning.

    3. ilsm

      Hill is a revolving door from Brookings/Council on Foreign Relations type “public servant”. One of those experts who fits with Strobe Talbot and Vicky Nuland as the price of admission. Denouncing the president is not an example for the kids going in to “public service”.

  4. Barkley Rosser

    Wisconsin, especially around Milwaukee, has long been a center of machine tool production, indeed, a steel user.

  5. Moses Herzog

    Saw this quote on youtube and thought I’d steal it:
    “IF TRUMP IS DEAD BEFORE I WAKE I PRAY THE LORD THE NEWS AIN’T FAKE”

    1. Moses Herzog

      I don’t know about you kids, but this freedom of information request Friday night document drop brings back so many memories:
      https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/26/opinion/impeachment-trump-mistake.html

      You guys are aware that the NYT PAYS this morally vacuous bast*rd to write these columns, yes?? Someone should dunk this guy’s head in a toilet bowl for 20 seconds every time he uses the term “values” in his column, because he obviously has NO IDEA what it means, never-mind “identity politics” which in David Brooks’ mind means “No one residing in a lower socio-economic group than me has a right to express their political views in public, because that is [ insert disgusted tone here ] ‘identity politics’ “.

  6. Moses Herzog

    There’s even a phone call between Mike Pompeo and Representative Nunes, the guy who was sitting just to the right of Schiff and casting aspersions on Schiff during the Impeachment Inquiry proceedings, it’s on page 47 of the documents I linked to above. Does anyone want to guess the date that phone call occurred?? No cheating by looking before you answer kids!!!! I suppose Nunes is going to tell us he was discussing the weather with Pompeo that day, and Nunes was concerned that maybe Giuliani had forgot to bring an umbrella for his travels around Ukraine?? Or maybe Nunes was offering to bully Zelensky with some direct phone calls to Ukraine??

  7. Moses Herzog

    On page 25, there’s a picture of an awkward looking Rick Perry of the “no, I’m not gay…. even though these rumors have stuck to me harder than the Keanu Reeves rumors of the last 20 years”. I don’t know who the dude is on the right, but I’m going to assume he’s Ukrainian. If anyone knows who the guy is on the right on page 25 please feel free to educate me.

  8. Barkley Rosser

    BTW, Moses, since you are demanding that somehow I lead a movement to change the name of James Madison University, are you going to demand that Menzie to lead a movement to change the name of Madison, Wisconsin also? If not, you are a worthless hypocrite. But then, we already know that you are, along with being massively ignorant, as well as a screamingly blatant liar who refuses to apologize for wasting peoples’ time here with your lies.

    1. Barkley Rosser

      Actually, JMU has done more than Madison, WI. JMU has a dorm named for Madison’s most famous slave. Madison, WI does nor yet have a street named for him or any other slave of James Madison’s.

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