Comment by probably_wrong
5 days ago
I think two things can be true at the same time: these taxes are ridiculous, and ordering a 75-cents part from the other side of the planet is a massive waste of resources.
5 days ago
I think two things can be true at the same time: these taxes are ridiculous, and ordering a 75-cents part from the other side of the planet is a massive waste of resources.
> ordering a 75-cents part from the other side of the planet is a massive waste of resources
Is it really that bad? Is it better to package the part in retail packaging, ship them in bulk to international warehouses, ahead of time, store them for months, then put them in a new package when someone orders them, and mail them through a local postal service.
Versus just stuffing the part in a tiny envelope and sending it directly to the customer? No re-packaging and storage required.
I genuinely can't tell; it's a good question. If the sellers on AliExpress could ever be arsed to use recyclable packaging instead of four layers of plastic baggies and wrap it would be even more interesting.
And if recycling in North America wasn't so often a sham.
Yes, and it created an actual problem that (knowingly or not) Trump was responding to - America essentially was getting further and further in debt to enable such high consumption.
I think we'll find that quite a bit of "American Exceptionalism" has been low interest borrowing. I'm not sure to what level, but I think anyone who relies on the S&P 500 as their only investment is going to be disappointed in the future decades of returns.
The futures graph for S&P looks real close to the national debt graph, and both look like they're at peak bubble.
Probably doesn't mean anything.