So the US needs to increase its pasta production by something like 1000% to meet demand? How? People made it at home because they could afford to have someone stay home to make pasta! Like really. Honest question for anyone reading this. Do you have time and energy to play Marie Poppins everytime you want to make a cheap and easy meal?
The issue is you are projecting a personal and individual mindset to a issue that’s way more complex than just, people should make their own pasta. In an ideal world you are correct, but in a world with neat supply lines, infrastructure, and knowledge to implement. Why even have pre baked bread in stores people can make their own! Why have produce in the stores, people can grow their own, it’s so easy! Why are we even pre grinding the flower, people can grind their own! Why are we cleaning and packaging these eggs? People can get their own chickens. This mindset doesn’t work on a large scale.
I can see how you think it’s a slippery slope, but most Americans will just buy the American made pasta and won’t bat an eye when the imports go up.
You can argue in favour of making it yourself, and that’s fine, but anyone for whom cost is a real issue will just get the store brand. It won’t affect those people.
most Americans will just buy the American made pasta and won’t bat an eye when the imports go up
Most Americans will keep buying the same store brand pasta and will complain when the price goes up because either they had to swap to a more expensive American company or will transfer the tariff cost to the consumer. And you wonder why the American company is more expensive? Because if it wasn’t the store brands would already work with them, and as stablished, they are putting tariffs on Italian pasta because it outcompetes American pasta companies.
Cost is an issue for me, I buy the import stuff when it goes on sale. The semolina/flour is different. Imported, good pasta, is white, American pastas/cheap stuff is yellow.
Once again how? Making pasta for 10s of millions of people isn’t as easy as flipping a switch. Even if every pasta factory tripled their production it wouldn’t be enough. Pasta would cost hundreds of dollars per pound in months. It’s mind boggling how many people don’t know how the World works. Italy makes enough pasta to feed the world but needs other things that other regions make. It would be a dumb investment for our country to suddenly take this approach with so many commodities.
Also the way terrifs work in reality. For example, if Trump just raised the price of a overseas good here to say $20. Why wouldn’t all the US factories raise their price to $19.50? In capitalism they have a responsiblity to shareholders to increase prices in that way.
You know, you could have just kept your thoughts to yourself, and then no-one would ever know you have no idea how markets and supply work, or how much effort and cost actually go into making pasta at home.
Was there any particular reason you wanted to put your ignorance on display?
Wow, you really don’t know anything about supply and infrastructure, do you? Dude, this is, like, econ 101. I’m sorry you got such a poor education; you should probably get your money back from whatever school you went to.
Think about it. Do you really think that the pasta companies in the US have entire production lines and factories sitting idle? Or that they only run for a few hours a day and then everyone goes home? Of course not. They’re running at capacity for as long as they can every day. They don’t have the ability to ramp up pasta production.
To increase pasta production in the US, those companies would have to either expand their current facilities, or build new ones. And despite what idiotic talking conservative heads seem to think, it is physically impossible for that to happen with the snap of a finger.
Take it from someone whose company is working on upgrading a current facility. Not expanding, mind you; just upgrading. The permitting process alone took us two years. Construction itself will be at least a year and a half. So that’s 3-4 years to build/expand a new factory, maybe more.
That means you’re looking at 3-4 years before those US companies can replace the pasta that’s not in our economy anymore. Which means for 3 years or more most Americans won’t be able to afford (or even acquire in the first place) what is a staple food, especially for poor families. That’s what your initial comment boiled down to: starving the poor in the hopes that it might get better eventually.
And all of this is assuming the companies have the money to do all this in the first place. Even upgrades aren’t cheap; a whole-ass new building is crazy expensive. Not every company has that kind of cash, and if the banks aren’t convinced it’ll be a good return on their investment, then getting a loan for it isn’t happening either. Which delays things further as fewer companies will be able to build to meet demand.
So the US needs to increase its pasta production by something like 1000% to meet demand? How? People made it at home because they could afford to have someone stay home to make pasta! Like really. Honest question for anyone reading this. Do you have time and energy to play Marie Poppins everytime you want to make a cheap and easy meal?
The issue is you are projecting a personal and individual mindset to a issue that’s way more complex than just, people should make their own pasta. In an ideal world you are correct, but in a world with neat supply lines, infrastructure, and knowledge to implement. Why even have pre baked bread in stores people can make their own! Why have produce in the stores, people can grow their own, it’s so easy! Why are we even pre grinding the flower, people can grind their own! Why are we cleaning and packaging these eggs? People can get their own chickens. This mindset doesn’t work on a large scale.
I can see how you think it’s a slippery slope, but most Americans will just buy the American made pasta and won’t bat an eye when the imports go up.
You can argue in favour of making it yourself, and that’s fine, but anyone for whom cost is a real issue will just get the store brand. It won’t affect those people.
Most Americans will keep buying the same store brand pasta and will complain when the price goes up because either they had to swap to a more expensive American company or will transfer the tariff cost to the consumer. And you wonder why the American company is more expensive? Because if it wasn’t the store brands would already work with them, and as stablished, they are putting tariffs on Italian pasta because it outcompetes American pasta companies.
Cost is an issue for me, I buy the import stuff when it goes on sale. The semolina/flour is different. Imported, good pasta, is white, American pastas/cheap stuff is yellow.
Once again how? Making pasta for 10s of millions of people isn’t as easy as flipping a switch. Even if every pasta factory tripled their production it wouldn’t be enough. Pasta would cost hundreds of dollars per pound in months. It’s mind boggling how many people don’t know how the World works. Italy makes enough pasta to feed the world but needs other things that other regions make. It would be a dumb investment for our country to suddenly take this approach with so many commodities.
Also the way terrifs work in reality. For example, if Trump just raised the price of a overseas good here to say $20. Why wouldn’t all the US factories raise their price to $19.50? In capitalism they have a responsiblity to shareholders to increase prices in that way.
You know, you could have just kept your thoughts to yourself, and then no-one would ever know you have no idea how markets and supply work, or how much effort and cost actually go into making pasta at home.
Was there any particular reason you wanted to put your ignorance on display?
Is there a reason the only two options are “import pasta from Italy” and “make it yourself at home”?
Why do you think it can’t be made at factories in the US? What do US factories lack that Italy has but everyone also has in their home?
Before we talk about my ignorance, clarify that point. We can’t have a valid conversation with you moving the goalposts so far.
Wow, you really don’t know anything about supply and infrastructure, do you? Dude, this is, like, econ 101. I’m sorry you got such a poor education; you should probably get your money back from whatever school you went to.
Think about it. Do you really think that the pasta companies in the US have entire production lines and factories sitting idle? Or that they only run for a few hours a day and then everyone goes home? Of course not. They’re running at capacity for as long as they can every day. They don’t have the ability to ramp up pasta production.
To increase pasta production in the US, those companies would have to either expand their current facilities, or build new ones. And despite what idiotic talking conservative heads seem to think, it is physically impossible for that to happen with the snap of a finger.
Take it from someone whose company is working on upgrading a current facility. Not expanding, mind you; just upgrading. The permitting process alone took us two years. Construction itself will be at least a year and a half. So that’s 3-4 years to build/expand a new factory, maybe more.
That means you’re looking at 3-4 years before those US companies can replace the pasta that’s not in our economy anymore. Which means for 3 years or more most Americans won’t be able to afford (or even acquire in the first place) what is a staple food, especially for poor families. That’s what your initial comment boiled down to: starving the poor in the hopes that it might get better eventually.
And all of this is assuming the companies have the money to do all this in the first place. Even upgrades aren’t cheap; a whole-ass new building is crazy expensive. Not every company has that kind of cash, and if the banks aren’t convinced it’ll be a good return on their investment, then getting a loan for it isn’t happening either. Which delays things further as fewer companies will be able to build to meet demand.