Biden’s Real Crime Against the Economy
The comments below are an edited and abridged synopsis of an article by James Rickards
“I try to keep politics out of my economic analyses, and my approach is non-partisan. But sometimes I can’t avoid it because political policies can have significant economic impacts. Today is one of those times.”
One of Joe Biden’s first acts as president was to kill construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have brought oil from Canada to the Midwest United States. From there it would be moved through other pipelines or refined and distributed to gas stations and industrial users in the US. Biden’s decision was destructive for a long list of reasons.
The immediate effect was to kill about 10,000 high-paying union jobs with benefits in construction, transportation and expert services. The ripple effects were even greater. Once a pipe delivery operation is killed, the trucking company and pipe manufacturer lay off more personnel and those workers stop spending at local restaurants and so on.
Killing the pipeline accomplishes nothing from an environmental standpoint. It is pointless because the oil still moves out of Alberta. In the absence of a pipeline, the oil moves by railroad tanker cars on rail lines owned by Warren Buffett.
Up for discussion: Pipelines and the environment; real climate change; propaganda; and follow the money.
