Dan Gulino #21

Why the Economy Sucks…


President Bush in March 2002 imposed tariffs on imports of certain steel products for three years and one day. The tariffs combined with other challenges present in the marketplace at the time and in the months that followed, boosted steel costs to the detriment of American companies that use steel to produce goods in the United States. The resulting negative impact included job losses for thousands of American workers. Economists found that 200,000 Americans lost their jobs to higher steel prices during 2002. These lost jobs represent approximately $4 billion in lost wages from February to November 2002. More American workers lost their jobs in 2002 to higher steel prices than the total number employed by the U.S. steel industry itself (187,500 Americans were employed by U.S. steel producers in December 2002).
The Steel Tariff is one example of a sanction that many economists believe was more harmful to domestic firms then it was beneficial. Instead of allowing steel prices to drop at the detriment of steel producers, steel consumers took the burden and billions of dollars were lost in wages and in profits. How about Washington D.C looks out for the masses, and not corporate big wigs.