Word: steels
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...upheavals facing the U.S. economy are hardly unique. All industrial nations are struggling with the onrush of technology and the painful transition from the past to the future. Western Europe is having a particularly difficult time moving toward the New Economy. In most European countries, many heavy industries like steel and coal mining are nationalized. Political pressure has made it difficult for governments to shrink these industries and move workers into new fields. In addition, European workers are much less willing than Americans to pick up and move to a new location. European governments have also made it very expensive...
Several governments in Europe are trying to introduce some dynamism into their economies. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher has chopped the job rolls of Britain's nationalized steel industry by 52%. At the same time, her government has guaranteed loans totaling $465 million to 10,000 small businesses. Even the Socialist government of Francois Mitterrand has launched a new austerity program that calls for a 10% cut in the work force of France's steel industry. With a historic French search for a centralized government solution, Mitterrand is trying to move his country into high technology with...
Kirkland is right that many imports are subsidized by a foreign government, but when the U.S. retaliates, both countries lose. The steel trade is a good illustration. For well over a decade many European nations have protected their national steel industries with steady infusions...
...government money. Since 1969 the U.S. has used a variety of methods to protect its industry from imports of inexpensive foreign steel. The result is a standoff that hurts both sides. Hooked on government funds, most European steel companies are weak, inefficient and a drain on their national treasuries. The U.S. Commerce Department has found that government help to some European steelmakers now totals as much as 40% of the value of their products...
...steel industry has also become weak, inefficient and a drain on the American economy. Steel executives have allowed their mills to become outmoded. Observes Harald Malmgren, a trade consultant in Washington: "When you protect any sector, you are shoring up sick companies and prolonging bad management." The steel industry has not, for the most part, used the breathing space offered by protection to modernize its plants. Instead, National Steel Corp. bought some savings and loan associations, and U.S. Steel borrowed $3 billion to acquire Marathon...