Iron Fisted Rule

Regular reader may recall a recent missive offering data on iron and aluminum ore reserves here in the USofA. It is not a comforting picture for those eager to return to the 19th century's industrial model. Today, Eduardo Porter reports on further research regarding tariffs on steel and aluminum vis-a-vis their use. The main point being: how many jobs are affected by tariffs in steel making and steel using industry. Not surprising, the numbers still say that the USofA workers (net, all of them) take it in the neck as do consumers of USofA manufactures.

For every job in Tupelo producing steel or aluminum, there are 200 jobs in industries that consume them that could be put at risk as tariffs push up the prices of these metals, according to research from Jacob Whiton and Mark Muro of the Brookings Institution.

Take a look at those colorful maps: the redneck knuckleheads, once again, voted for suicide. They don't need no education.

This finding is not an outlier, by any means. Total employment in steel and aluminum has been dropping like a rock since the end of WWII, when we gobbled up vast quantities of the Mesabi Range ore

While the Mesabi Range had single-handedly supplied the iron for steel during World War II, it essentially dug its own grave. The Range totaled output of over 188 million tons of ore during the course of the war, and exhausted itself of natural hematite until the process of making taconite into iron was discovered into the 50's and 60's. The Mesabi Range lived like a star, dimly lighting the industry, and going supernova when it was most needed, provided for the country and gave everything it had until it had nothing left. In being the key for us winning the war, the Mesabi Range gave its life force, becoming just another casualty of the war.

The USGS has a report on the levels of mining, production, and reserves. It agrees with other data from that previous missive.

Stupid people make stupid choices. That fact has always, and will always, be true.