Just a couple of days ago – on the first of this month – President Trump declared he was imposing a 25 percent tariff on imported heavy (commercial) trucks.
“All ‘Heavy (big!) Trucks’ made in other parts of the world” will face the higher tariffs, Trump said in a post on Truth Social, attributing the move to protecting U.S. manufacturers from “unfair outside competition.” He also implied there are “national security concerns.” There are always “national security concerns” when the federal government decides to impose a new iteration of tyranny on the American people.
Domestic brands such as Peterbilt, Kenworth, Freightliner and Mack “will be protected,” Trump added. As in from the competition.
Interestingly, it’s a foreign company – Daimler, parent company of Mercedes – that owns Freightliner and Mack (and then there’s Volvo Group) but never mind that.
There are two things to understand about tariffs. The first is that they are just another name for taxes. The money is extracted differently than say income taxes – but we’re forced to pay for them just the same. Instead of paying say 25 percent of what you earn to the government, you pay 25 percent more for the tariffed item, to cover the cost the item’s manufacturer pays to the government. Does it make ay difference? You are still 25 percent lighter in the wallet.
Well, you don’t have to buy a heavy truck! That’s true. But you probably do have to buy the things that are shipped by heavy trucks. Things like food, for instance. Pretty much everything you buy at the store. Because most of it came from far-away, via a heavy truck. Do you suppose the 25 percent tariff/tax the truck’s buyer had to pay the government will not be passed on down the line?
There’s also a hidden tax. A tariff/tax that increases the cost of an imported item does not mean the domestically made item will cost less. In the first place because there is less incentive for the domestic manufacturer of the item to lower costs, which would mean lower profits. In the second – and this is subtler – the tariff/tax-driven increase in the cost of the foreign-made item allows the domestic manufacturer to raise its costs to parity with those of the tariff/taxed items. Perhaps not exactly as high. But higher nonetheless. Tariffs are thus an insidious kind of tax that – like inflation, which is a name for another tax – makes the cost of living go up for us all but in a way that’s much harder to see and understand than an outright tax that’s called by that name.
It is for that reason one of the greatest bait-and-switches employed by the federal government under the direction of politicians such as Trump, who present the tariffs as benefitting Americans – as if any tax ever did such a thing.
Well, some Americans will benefit. The ones who can charge other Americans more for things on account of the artificially imposed costs imposed by the government. Of course, this assumes Americans can keep up with those costs and that seems to be ending. Wherever you look on main street, people are not buying because the costs have risen beyond their ability to pay them. Wall Street is booming – just as business boomed for big chain store retailers during “COVID,” when the government forced all the small businesses to close down.
Trump is also imposing a bevy of tariff-taxes on the things transported by heavy trucks, including a 50 percent tariff/tax on kitchen cabinets and a 30 percent tariff on upholstered furniture.
If you need a new sofa, better hurry – before you can’t afford one.
. . .
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C’mon Eric..don’t you know that it’s the foreigners who pay the tariffs?
Trump keeps saying that, so it must be true, right?
What IS rather depressing is that we now live in a society where we not only have to ask the government for permission/license to run a business so we then get to pay them taxes, but where a person like Hombre Naranja can just declare that tomorrow, it will be YOUR costs going up by some arbitrary amount. And it is YOUR problem to work out how to stay in business, or how you can afford to buy anything.
In a free society, any person would be free to interact and do business with another, without having to ask for any permits or be subject to any special and arbitrary taxation.
Yet another example that ‘freedom’ in today’s western societies is no more than a nice word.
Amen, John –
Yesterday, talking with Bill Meyer (audio will be up soon) a guy who works for Freightliner called in to describe what this is doing to his industry; Bill and I then talked about what this will end up doing to all of us…
In pre-1965 US coin:
I can fill the 24 gallon tank of my old Land Rover for $2.00.
The 16 gallon tank of the old Ford for $1.25.
The 10 gallon tank of the MG for 80 cents.
This is the true measure of what has been stolen from us.
Bubble watch: today the Nasdaq 100 index (home of Mag-7 AI glamour stocks such as Nvidia) hit a record 25,000.
A quarter century ago in March 2000, the Nasdaq Composite index (a broader index, more followed at the time) closed above 5,000 for exactly two consecutive days. That was the precise end of the TMT [Tech, Media, Telecom] bubble, a/k/a the Internet Bubble.
Will NDX 25,000 bang the gong on the Everything Bubble this time round? Probably not, with Trump’s merry Federal Reserve pranksters about to slash interest rates again. But for what it’s worth, aggressive, desperate Fed rate-cutting in 2001 did not brake the Internet Bubble’s headlong collapse into oblivion. :-0
In 2001, most traders as well as many amateur investors still had at least some concept of ‘value’ investing and understood that ultimately, company profits do matter.
That’s no longer the case now. It’s all about momentum chasing and this is why you have many professional analysts rating TSLA as a ‘BUY’, despite its P/E closing on 300.
Just like the fiat currency is underpinned by faith the public has in ‘the authorities’, the stock market now operates in a similar fashion. It will keep going up, because almost all participants are convinced it will.
Which is not to say there won’t be a crash, but then again, both Venezuela’s and Zimbabwe’s stock indices were at one stage nominally the best performing in the world. It’s just that, as Kyle Bass so aptly observed, the final profits may have been just enough to buy the investor two eggs.
I prefer to view the present situation as costs aren’t increasing, but value of the shitcurrency is going down. An ounce of gold in 1913 is still an ounce of gold today. The dollar indices are equivalent to every other chart one might choose to consider. Give me the numbers and I’ll give you whatever results you’re expecting… in order to prop up the ongoing scam. As Jim Holter says: “In case you are wondering what “passed the fiscal event horizon” means, it means that mathematically the debt cannot be repaid in current values of fiat currency. Fiats MUST devalue in order to make the debt payable… gold is screaming this loud and clear to those who will listen!”
Even the MSM has picked up on the fiat currency sunset:
‘Debasement trade’ continues as gold soars above $4,000
‘Investors are seeking hedges — gold, silver, and bitcoin among them — to guard against a devaluation in fiat currencies.’ — Yahoo Finance, this morning
Soft default via inflation is the only path forward for the hopelessly indebted welfare/warfare state. ‘Fiscal responsibility’ is as obsolete as doo-wop.
Well, since my nest egg left me
I found a new place to dwell
Down at the end of Lonely Street
At Heartbreak Hotel
— Elvis Presley, Heartbreak Hotel [1956]
Another Cost That’s Going Up
‘Private insurance companies that sponsor plans on the ObamaCare marketplace [sic] are already sending out rate notices of next year’s costs. Those rates are set based on current law — not predictions about what Congress might do later — meaning, under the assumption that the subsidies established during the COVID-19 pandemic will expire on Jan. 1.
That distinction is enormous: If Congress doesn’t act, the average out-of-pocket premium for patients enrolled in ObamaCare marketplace [sic] plans would jump by 75 percent, according to KFF. Those are the figures patients are already getting in the mail. Faced with drastically higher rates, many are likely to buy lesser coverage next year — or none at all [gasp!].
‘Adding to the time squeeze, the ACA’s open enrollment period begins on Nov. 1, meaning patients will begin making their decisions long before GOP leaders say they’re ready to act.’
https://thehill.com/policy/transportation/5543926-pressure-points-shutdown-end/
What an exquisite dilemma for 24 million ObamaCare subscribers — having to roll the dice on what 435 rum-soaked, coke-nosed House of Representatives Congress Clowns may or may not do, if they ever come back to work.
Frederich Hayek, who wrote decades ago about the impossibility of planning under socialism, gets the last laugh. ObamaCare is a train wreck waiting to happen — until the Party of Lincoln finally caves and steps in to ‘mend, not end’ it. 🙁
The law oppresses us and tricks us
The wage slave system drains our blood
The rich are free from obligation
The laws the poor delude
— Eugène Pottier, L’internationale [R-party fight song]
Hi Jim,
Except the majority will re enroll struggling to make payments to a medical system that doesn’t give a crap about their health. They will be late on their car payment, rent, and go without food to make sure United and Anthem have their premium, because “something could happen”.
The Western Medical Complex is built on fear. Fear of “what ifs”. The same fear that rules all insurance. I wish more people would take this monthly premium and stash it in a money market making 2.5% a year so if an emergency did rise they would have the funds to pay for it. Unless, one is on the same health plan as Congress or can afford a top notch gold plan it isn’t worth the paper it is written on.
For the ‘enhanced’ ObamaCare subsidies, Clowngress capped out-of-pocket premiums at 8.5% of income, up to 400% of the poverty line.
By comparison, back in her ‘pretty in pink’ salad days of 1993-94, Hillary Clinton proposed a payroll tax of ‘only’ 7.9 percent for large companies in the ‘health alliance’ [we’re all in this together, as UnitedHealthcare reminds me every day in ads].
Yep, costs are going up — even the percentages! 🙁
Should five percent appear too small
Be thankful I don’t take it all
— The Beatles, Taxman [1966]
Preach it, RG!
How did we – as a society – become so addled by fear of “might happen” and “what if”? The money wasted on “might happen” and “what if” could have been set aside (as you note) and ready for what actually does happen – if it ever does. And since it probably won’t, you will then have the money. Trying to explain this to some people is like trying to persuade a “masker” that it’s safe to not wear that damned thing.
Agreed, as a society we are becoming far less tolerant of risk over time.
I think it has everything to do with the fact that inflation and general sensitization have made the average person FAR less prosperous over the last 50-60 years. It’s become so difficult to accumulate wealth, and so easy to lose it, that people have taken an overall far more defensive posture over it. And that has led fairly directly, if unconsciously, to an unhealthy attitude towards risk calculations, and the people who take more risks generally.
It will continue to deteriorate, until there is nothing left to hedge, nothing to lose, amd everything to gain by toppling the system. Watch the young people, about 16-25, particularly the men. Because when they have no position and no opportunities, they tend to get angry (with good reason) and create their own.
Morning, Publius!
Were I 16-25 again, I’d prolly do the same as I actually did do when I was that age. I lived as cheaply as possible, buying only what I could afford to pay cash for (especially cars). Lived with a bunch of friends in a cheap townhouse to save money. Today, I’d modify that a bit – due to the obnoxious cost of even a shitty townhouse – by getting a van or similar to sleep in and a cheap gym membership for the shower. Hoard money until I could buy a piece of land and then put a tiny house on it. Screw health insurance. A healthy 16-25 year old needs health insurance like a menopausal woman needs tampons.
RG, you’re right as far as it goes, but the vast majority of Americans don’t have the slack in their budget for either “insurance” or to sock away a substantial part of their gross income. Out here in the hinterlands $20/hr is still considered good money, but it won’t cover food clothing and shelter much less an encounter with the government medical cartel.
I’ve been self employed for 18 years in a very valuable skill set. I bill as much or more than the local lawyers. But I pay myself around 50k/year and there just ain’t budget slack for 15k of “insurance” to come out of that.
The problem is we have socialized medicine with the few working people paying the freight. If you’re an employee, “someone else is paying for it”. More so if you’re a union thug. And more same if you’re “poor” because none of your 80k of bennies are taxable income, so Obastardcare covers it all.
Hi Ernie,
Yes, but if you are charging the same as the local legal eagles my guess is the money is sitting in the company account, just not the personal account that your salary is disbursed to. Which means if an emergency were to occur the money could be paid to you via a shareholder distribution, corporate dividend, or a loan from your organization.
The lesson of financial management was always pay yourself first. Ten percent toward the emergency fund and then the remaining funds are applied toward bills/needs, and then wants. The taxman doesn’t care when he steals from our payroll wages and we learn to make do with less. The same advice should be toward our security. At $20/hr. that is $800 per week. If Uncle Sam takes his cut that leaves approximately $650 in net wages. There is no reason that $65 should not be immediately put in a savings account. At the end of the month the individual now has $260 set aside. At year end that is $3380. It is significantly unlikely that someone will have a large medical emergency every single year.
It either sits in the account or buys tools, supplies, equipment, or property. But you are essentially correct, being cash poor is an essential survival mechanism. Of note, most of my 80 hours/week aren’t billable, in a couple of busy periods per year I do get all my revenue. Im lucky to have 1000 billable hours in a year. The bookkeeping is a nightmare, due to artificial government deadlines.
My experience was that a significant medical expense is a true crisis regardless, because there is always the expectation that someone else is paying, the price mechanism for medical stuff is broken beyond belief. I had an emergency surgery a few years back, then the wife was diagnosed with cancer 3 years ago. Leading to a year of insanely expensive treatments which were mostly negotiated away.
Again, socialized medicine paid for by working stiffs, and insurance which is a scam looking for any way out of paying their promises.
Another Cost That’s
About ToIS Going UpElectric power, comrades: my monopoly utility wants a 16% rate hike. Others are asking for 30% or more. What, did you think AI was going to be free? /sarc
In direct contradiction to Lightning Jim Farley, who claims a cheap Eeevee can save you $2,000 a year in gasoline costs, the NY Slimes now admits that fast charging an EeeVee costs over 20% MORE than a 25-mpg IC-engined vehicle:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/upshot/ev-versus-gas-car-comparison-cost.html
Plenty of regional variation exists, of course, in both power and gasoline prices. But on average, at the most efficient end of the scale, a home-charged EeeVee only barely beats out a typical hybrid vehicle in minimizing the cost to drive 100 miles.
Bottom line, surging electrical power prices have jerked the carpet out from under Lightning Jim’s fantastical claims about low-cost living with an EeeVee. With no more $7,500 EeeVee tax credit, the fulminating EeeVee Fever that prevailed four years ago is as far in the rearview mirror today as leisure suits and disco. As always, the joke was on us.
Now for the most devastating comparison — a fast-charged EeeVee costs $15.62 per hundred miles for power, according to the Slimes, versus $6.15 per hundred miles to fuel a hybrid — a stunning 2-1/2 times more.
Not only do you have to wait at charging stations, you pay a crushingly high price to recharge. Like mask-wearing, EeeVee driving should be regarded under the DSM-V guidelines as a prima facie indicator of mental illness.
The EeeVee War is over, comrades. WE WON.
Hi Jim H,
There is a communist revolt going on in Oregon regarding power rates. The proletariat is up in arms at their power going up $0.07 per KWH and they want blood from the Data Center types. Interesting that Oregon gave away incentives to get Data Centers over the last 10 years, so what’s the problem now Tina? They want to tax them specifically rather than allow permits for more natural gas turbines. Oh, we want wind and solar…not. The Proletariat often voluntarily pays more per Kwh for power generation from wind or solar but now that it hits the bottom line, Data Centers are evil.
I’ve built Data Centers, and they use a ton of power. They are run and ownerd by no means nice people; bad Apples-Trans-Amazons – Bill Vaccine Gates. However, Oregonians think they have a captured audience…they don’t. They are not that expensive to build, and they can move the *cloud* to other facilities and states. So, Bye Bye Oregon and Tina Kotex. No more Marxist tax revenue for you and your fight against ICE.
The data centers are the future control grid so anything that keeps more of them from being built is a good thing, regardless of the motivations of those trying to stop them. It’s not just “commies” that want to stop this.
While the enemy of my enemy is not my friend, I can support them on a singular issue to stop a greater evil. More gas turbines would be good to bring down costs for homes and businesses, but if the reason is for data centers they can stay unbuilt.
“Data Centers” are just a euphemism for Big Brother.
Notice how there’s no clamor to stop these data centers for their alleged deleterious effect on the atmosphere like they claim for everything else.
A minor event in our city that I hope might be indicative of a moving away from EVs – our local Whole Foods(Amazon) this week removed the EV chargers which had been sitting unused for months in the parking lot. It was wonderful to see those things being torn out!
Kenworth, Peterbilt, and Freightliner were born of the Pacific northwest. Mack was born in New York. Volvo only exists in the US bc they bought out Mack, White, Autocar, and Sterling.
Trucks are becoming dumbed down like passenger cars. Used to be a driver had to be able to shift a 10, 13, or 18 gear Eaton-Fuller Now they use an automatic which is shifted using a control on the steering wheel (think changing the windshield wiper speed).
You’d think MAGA would be free trade, getting the everyday man more for his money.
However, let’s not forget, Trump was a New Yorker and democrat, so his ideas are not what one might typically think a republican would support.
He is under the impression that we all want to slave away for 40 years in a factory turning knobs in our union job.
He looks at a trade imbalance as evidence of a scam.
I have a trade imbalance with my employer as well as the grocery store. Am I worse off?
He is a zero sum kind of guy. He can’t see any deeper than that.
He is what he is, an entertaining clown that is easily manipulated because he lacks understanding of anything beyond jr high school.
Tariffs or not, devalued dollars will end in higher prices. But I’m sure it’s just 100D chess to hasten the collapse and recovery before the next election.
Amen, Dan –
I (and I think many others) find him less and less amusing. My power bill has nearly doubled; also the insurance I am forced to buy. $100 buys what $60 bought four years ago. How does this make America great? We are being enserfed while a handful of connected shysters make bank. But, not to worry. Trump will probably incite something far worse by attacking Iran on behalf of Israel.
He already did that — and got away with it.
Look, goy… the NFL game is on TV!!!
Yup!
And – apparently – a tranny freak of some sort is going to be the featured half-time entertainment. One that says we gringos better learn Spanish, too. I understand some people enjoy the game for the game’s sake. But I see sportsball as one of the most effective means via which this country’s culture has been degraded to the level of ooking and eeking.
It gets worse, Eric: [Speaker Mike] Johnson says Bad Bunny ‘terrible decision’ for Super Bowl, suggests Lee Greenwood — the hill.com
A miffed Greenwood, realizing that God Bless the U.S.A. grates on some folks, has offered to sing Hatikvah (the Israeli national anthem) if sportsball will just give him equal time. Victory over Iran! /sarc
I never thought I would say this, but I would prefer Taylor Swift over this guy. I have no idea who Bad Bunny is, but he sounds like a douche based on his commentary.
On the other hand, Trump, Noem, and ICE need to stay away. They have no business being there.
I have been advocating to have Iron Maiden for the halftime show for years but no one wants to listen to me:)
👏🏻 I can get behind this. I suggest that the first song be “The Evil That Men Do” followed by “Hallowed be Thy Name”. Robert Plant could make a cameo singing “Black Dog”. I would actually sit and watch this.
I heard that the NFL Pepsi Half Time Show is produced by Jay Z. I wouldn’t anticipate anybody good…ever.
No, no… Maiden should do “Die With Your Boots On”… of course that tune is FORTY years old
Yes. A thousand times yes. Pity the Ozzman goeth because some War Pigs would truly rock the joint. Perhaps Cake could do their version…
Bad Bunny, Sheesh, SMMFH.
Maybe, instead of some degenerate spic who doesn’t live here, the NFL could get AOC lathered up for some performative reading of bad drag queen tranz poetry. Not too far fetched at this point. Don’t know why in the world anyone still follows foolzball. If one absolutely positively fees the need, go to the nearest high school on any given Friday night and watch youngsters from your town compete. Much more authentic as opposed to the WrestleMania atmosphere of the NFL.
There are many excellent high school and college marching bands that could put on a very entertaining performance for the StuporBowl. There could even be a “battle of the bands” competition to choose who gets in.
Much better than the Hollywood dreck that people only watch to mock like Tom Servo.
Filling the government coffers so we can give more of it to Isntreal. Winning!
GovCo involvement in the economy is just a teaspoon of dog shit in a gallon of ice cream.
Beyond the establishment of a medium of exchange it has no role…and even that is questionable.
‘Look at the used car market.’ — Raider Girl
Manheim, a unit of Cox Automotive, compiles an index of auction prices of three-year-old vehicles coming off lease. Here’s today’s updated chart:
https://site.manheim.com/en/services/consulting/used-vehicle-value-index.html
About half of the huge run-up from 2020 to 2022 due to Kovid Kash has been retraced. But so much
moneycurrency has been printed that I’m doubting whether the rest of the covid used-car bubble ever will be wrung out of the system.It’s not impossible. But it would take a killer, humdinger recession that would curl your hair to make it happen.
My red hat, my red hat man
If Donnie can’t fix it, I don’t know who can
— Joan Osborne, Right Hand Man
Hi Jim,
No doubt any auto made over the last five years is still at a ridiculous price point. They will drop like a hammer though once the technology is considered obsolete. Personally, those are not the cars I am interested in. I want older well made cars that can go 300K miles with very little to no tech.
This is what I have my eye on next. I am trying to save up enough to buy her. Hubby says I am the only person alive who wants a 96 Trooper. I hope that is true. Fortunately, I still have my Aerosmith “Big Ones” CD from 1994 and my Janet Jackson “Control” cassette tape from 1986 that I still play it is CD/cassette player. 🙂
https://www.edmunds.com/isuzu/trooper/1996/vin/JACDJ58V2T7906818/?national=true&radius=6000
Hard to go wrong with a Trooper. I just drove Dads old 88 Trooper for a year and sold it. Wonderful rugged utility box- a vastly better vehicle than the Jeep. I got emblems from EBay in Australia and rebadged that one as a Holden Jackaroo.
Hi Ernie,
I bet the Holden Jackaroo threw everyone off around you….except the Australians and New Zealanders. 🙂
Actually, what sold me on it is the 3300 in miles. It has never been titled and was used by the owner of a company that used it for safety tests. An Isuzu Trooper at that price with hardly any miles on it is about the same price I would have paid in 1996 if I wanted one (actually it is a tad bit less). I am saving up my pennies. It will probably take me until Xmas, so I will see if she is still for sale then.
I had a 1999 Rodeo that went 201K before I sold it. She was a tank. I hope the Trooper is just as good. I just love all of the knobs…and no screens. It is me reliving my youth. 🙂
‘President Trump declared he was imposing a 25 percent tariff on imported heavy (commercial) trucks.’ — eric
This is poorly timed, to say the least:
‘U.S. heavy truck sales are falling at a pace rarely seen outside of recessions, raising concerns about the health of the economy. Sales dropped by 20,000 in August to an annualized rate of 422,000, the lowest since January 2022.
‘The weakness is showing up in new truck orders as well. Final North American Class 8 net orders came in at 12,844 units in August, down 21% from a year earlier.
“August marks the eighth consecutive month of y/y Class 8 order declines,” said Carter Vieth, Research Analyst at ACT Research. He noted that while August is usually a slow month, “this month’s tractor orders of 7,493 units, down 34% y/y, were notably weak, but in line with the trend since April. Current tariff and regulatory purgatory continue to sow industry uncertainty.”
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/weakest-pandemic-us-heavy-truck-sales-collapse-levels-rarely-seen-outside-recession
‘Uncertainty’ is the key word here. When businesses face the uncertainty posed by a raging, unstable narcissist who dictates new tariffs every day according to his personal whim, they cut risk by slashing capital investments.
Danger, danger, Donnie Fubar: V.O.S. Selections, Inc. v. Trump is a dagger to the heart of your reckless, unconstitutional wheeling and dealing. You’ve already lost at the trial court and appellate court levels. Now the Supreme Court is going to hear about your megalomania and perfidy at a hearing scheduled for the first week of November.
And the bottom line? Three strikes and you’re out. 🙂
You have confidence in nine – ostensibly illiterate – clowns in gowns, some of which may have had their prurient interest in young boys and girls filmed?
Since everything is going up I’d advise you to buy it when you can get it at a price you can afford or otherwise make do without.
What adds insult to injury is that none these tariffs (taxes) are the least bit thought out, i.e. proposed in order to gain concessions from the other party. No, they are just the blurted out brain farts of the Orange Ogre, mostly to “own” whoever the narcissistic bastard had decided he hates that day.
My hands are clean in that I refused to participate in the last selection, but the Orange Anal Wart has achieved being more revolting than the Shrub, Obomber, and the Biden Thing combined. That it doesn’t end up with us getting nuked would be a small miracle.
These Trump tariffs are also completely unconstitutional. Art I, Sec 8 states:
“The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises. . .To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations. . .”
The President has no such unilateral authority.
The problem is that the Congress has passed legislation delegating authority to the president to enact these tariffs if he thinks there is an “emergency.”
Congress has delegated authority to the executive on hundreds of issues since 1932. From a Constitution-of-1787 perspective it’s a real problem, but the public couldn’t care less about that as long as there is porn and football on the “telescreen.”
The effect of this purported delegation is to amend the constitution without following the strict requirements of an amendment.
You didn’t think they would stop with defying the first and second amendments, did you?
I am curious what affect the tariffs are having on everyone? Not what we are reading about, but what we are actually purchasing. The economy has slowed substantially. Could tariffs be the cause? Maybe, maybe not. I am the purchasing department for hubby’s business. As of now I am able to negotiate pretty much anything and everything. Companies are desperate. I am getting materials/supplies at discounts of 10-20% off. The phones, trash service, internet, bank fees, etc.
Look at the used car market. Prices are dropping. One can find some absolutely gorgeous cars/trucks from the 1990s-early 2000s for under $10K. The housing market isn’t moving. Homes price will begin decreasing, because inventory is at a high. The only reason it has not been felt across the board is that the Dow is hitting all time highs. Until the Stock Market bubble pops it feels like 1997 and not 2008.
Within 75 miles on cars.com there’s 44 trucks under $10,000 only 3 of which are under 100,000 miles. Cross off the two red Silverado’s & that leaves a 2008 Ford Ranger XL SuperCab
89,273 mi. $6,500, too bad/so sad if one want’s an 8′ bed or a V-8, or an F-150.
The majority of the rest are around 165,000 miles to over 200,000 miles. $10,000 – for a truck with 200,000 miles?
Also, red cedar wood prices make my wallet squeeze my heart. Same with plywood sheets & bales of insulation.
Basement windows go for $78, yet I read reviews from ~ a yr. ago saying what a deal they were for 50 Bucks.
…A used garden tractor with a front end loader, similar story as the windows & the trucks.
…And, the hourly rate today of a plumber, whoa-boy.
Rolls of woven wire fencing made a big jump up in price this past Spring, there’s no negotiating with a supplier of that, not that I know of, anyway.
On the flip side, the local, & only, bar & grill is cutting the hours & days they are open for business.
At least the chicken feed price has been flat all this time. There is, that.
Utility costs are out of fucking control. A local utility has proposed a 33% electricity increase! For all the “free” windmill and solar bullshit and the government subsidies, electricity rates aren’t going down… they’re going UP! My electric bill has already doubled in the past 2-3 years and now they want more.
Bloodsucking leeches.
I am a proponent of municipal electric to be provided at-cost. There are several villages around here that have dams and small power plants that do this. Call it “socialism” if you like, but getting robbed by a “capitalist” utility with a monopoly isn’t the answer, either…
Hi X,
One culprit for electricity rates going up seemingly everywhere, besides this demented push for “Green energy” under guise of “Stopping cliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimate change”, is the excessive use of electricity from all these AI data centers being built all over the country. I read a piece on Technocracy News not too long ago about a “Republican” state legislator from Ohio who had a bill that would effectively allow electric companies to ration electricity. Translation: “Data centers would get all the electricity they need, but if you’re an ordinary citizen who needs electricity for, say, charging an EV or keeping warm during winter, too bad! You must ration electricity to save the grid!”
Hi helot,
I am sure location has a lot to do with it. I just looked at Cars.com and there are 1032 cars/trucks available with a mileage under 100K and under $10K 75 miles from my zip code.
I do agree that electricity prices are crazy. That’s about the only thing I can’t negotiate. Propane prices aren’t bad though.
Location – for sure. Plus, the road-salt rust monster, eats and eats.
If I had an extra $22,000 laying around I’d definitely want that Trooper you posted above as a spare Summer time grocery getter. Very nice.
Sun City, Lake Havasu, and Palm Springs, all your friend in this regards.
Its more than just the salt. I recently saw something in Alabama that blew my mind. A municipal truck, with a Venturi nozzle system mounted in the back of the bed. It was driving slow, up and down the streets spewing some sort of vapor, IDK what, Anti-pestilence, weed killer, mosquito repellent, fog machine? Looked weird as hell, like something from the 6Os era south.
Hi RG,
Yes, but here’s a counterpoint. Circa 2007, I bought the ’02 Frontier I currently have for $7,500. It had 52,000 miles on it. I could prolly sell my truck today – with 150,000 miles on it – for nearly what I paid for it back then.
We’ve been fucked without warning or lube.
There’s a slight difference between income tax and consumption taxes/fees/tariffs in that you aren’t going to be thrown in jail for deciding not to buy a big truck.
But your point about the consumer being burdened by the cost is correct. All government funding is a tap on your wallet since it does not create anything valuable, all spending it does sucks wealth out of the economy. Still, if given any choice I’d take the tariff over a tax just because it’s at least theoretically possible to starve the beast by buying nothing.
Sharpie moved all their production back onshore over the past few years without reducing number of employees domestically, reduced costs and their price per pen has gone down (technically, yes, in that it has not gone up despite inflation).
https://www.wsj.com/business/sharpie-us-production-cost-cutting-d9ba2abd
It can be done, although this change in manufacturing structure pre-dates Orange Man Bad Tariffs.
Will DJT perverted mind come up with the concept that since people are buying less “stuff” the heavy trucks will be used less, thus eliminating the need for more heavy trucks! It’s a MAGA Win – Win! Cue up the Lee Greenwood baby!