Trump proves he is completely clueless on what's the real reason behind the mass layoffs epidemic in big businesses and how to deal with it

globinfo freexchange

Donald Trump's response to recent General Motors' decision to close plants and slash jobs, proves that he is completely clueless on what's the real reason behind the mass layoffs epidemic in US big businesses and how to deal with it.

The media circulated what Trump thinks to do about it, including threats against GM to impose auto tariffs, or, his most beloved action: penalties on foreign cars.

Yet, perhaps the most hilarious part in the whole story, is that one of the key frontline tools of the global neoliberal capital immediately published an 'in your face' article to make Trump realize that he is completely powerless too, against the forces of the markets. Here are some interesting parts:

... market forces are tough to beat, even if you’re president. Trump captured the White House thanks in large part to the story he told -- that he could reverse America’s industrial decline. He promised to bring back manufacturing and fossil-fuel jobs written off as casualties of global trade and over-regulation. But almost halfway through Trump’s first term, divergences from his “Make America Great Again” story line continue to pile up, pushed along by technology, globalization and a changing climate. [...] It’s unclear whether Trump has authority to revoke subsidies without action by Congress. It’s also difficult, if not impossible, for Trump to overcome the dynamics that are driving companies to choose robots over humans, discontinue brands and close plants. Some are choosing to build nearer to their consumers and supply chains, including in China, while others are moving production lines to lower-cost countries, like Mexico. [...] Market forces, however, have proved too powerful. For Mary Barra, GM’s chief executive, the plan to close a handful of older plants and dismiss more than 14,000 employees came down to basic economics. Consumers are shunning sedans like GM’s Chevrolet Cruze in favor of pickups and SUVs. With some factories down to one shift a day, GM said it needed to cut its capacity to make traditional passenger cars and free up resources to invest in autonomous and electric vehicles. It’s keeping lower-cost production in Mexico. [...] GM’s restructuring comes less than two years after Trump praised the company for promising to invest $1 billion in its U.S. operations. It was one of many such pledges by large companies -- even though some were reiterating existing plans -- meant to gain favor with the new administration. The jobs GM promised, however, have largely gone to Silicon Valley, where it’s developing autonomous vehicles. GM shares are down 10 percent this year, compared with the S&P 500 Index’s 0.3 percent gain. The carmaker was up 0.4 percent to $36.85 in early New York trading on Wednesday. Like GM, Ford Motor Co. said it will exit much of the passenger-car market to focus on SUVs and trucks. It also has said it will lay off workers as part of an $11 billion restructuring. [...] Jawboning aside, Trump was unable to stop job losses at a Carrier Corp. air-conditioning plant in Indianapolis. Soon after winning office, he made a highly publicized visit to the factory in a bid to stop Carrier from moving positions to Monterrey, Mexico. The company kept the plant open after receiving millions in state subsidies. But about 600 workers ended up losing their jobs anyway. The U.S. still is a manufacturing heavyweight, but companies increasingly are choosing automation over human labor. Some forces buffeting manufacturers are the result of other Trump policies. He has worked to lower oil prices by cutting environmental rules and pressuring petrostates. U.S. consumers have responded by purchasing yet more SUVs and trucks, which accounted for about 65 percent of new-vehicle sales in September. Tariffs have also raised prices on aluminum and steel, forcing up production costs.

The neoliberal globalists (that Trump's supporters hate so much), even gave Trump a hint on what's the real reason behind this mass-layoffs epidemic. In short, it could be described as accelerating hyper-automation, but it will probably fall on Trump's deaf ears.

Poor Donnie looks like a tragic figure, squeezed by the ruthless forces of the markets that himself rushed to protect from his first minute in the US presidency.

He hired Goldman Sachs banksters to run the economy, deregulated the system even more, tried to lure the big capital with further tax-cuts and generous subsidies. He was only asking for a few thousand jobs (under any conditions) in return. But the big capital barons happily received his gifts and now give him 'the finger', ignoring his expectations. Welcome to the deregulated casino-capitalism Mr. Trump!

A brutal war is taking place right now between the corporate super-giants across the globe. The car industry in Germany proceeds in mass layoffs too because the robots are penetrating rapidly in every production process. Clueless and powerless politicians like Trump are feeding the global corporate beast instead of trying to figure out how they could control it.

Donnie and his most faithful supporters must be wondering now 'how the hell did that happened?'. They will turn against the usual scapegoats, one more time: the immigrants 'who are taking the jobs'. That's all they know. That's how far they can go to figure out what's going on. They will never pay attention to the unprecedented technological challenges to seek for an alternative answer. They will never blame corporations, they will never blame capitalism.

And the worst part is that most of them don't even realize that they are doing corporate beast's job by directing the popular anger against immigrants. And so, the corporate monsters are left completely unscrutinized to play their games and maximize their profits at the expense of the rest, in this ruthless global market arena.