quote:

ORIGINAL: rulemylife
It had nothing to do with government regulation.  Most drywall is still manufactured here.

quote:

OK- seriously. I watched the development of this, since as I do construction material specifying. In the boom years of the late 90's through 2006, the massive amounts of construction in China acted like a global vacuum cleaner, sucking up nearly every building product made; Concrete, plywood, steel, copper you name it; all these materials became scarce, prices skyrocketed, and in that vacuum cheaper made, highly questionable products flooded the market.

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ORIGINAL: AnimusRex

I can remember vast shortages of simple things like rebar. 

Metal prices sky rocketed with all of the building in China.  Every piece of metal that was being made was loaded on a ship and sent over as they were paying top dollar.  I can remember getting quotes on some of the large Steel buildings we were doing and being told the quote was only good till the end of the day because of the fluctuation in price of the metal.

Where is all of this supposed Chinese drywall going?  No one in their right mine is using it. 

(in reply to AnimusRex)

quote:

ORIGINAL: AnimusRex

You see, the invisible hand of the marketplace will solve this, as it solves all of lifes' problems. Let me break it down for you:
Once the houses that have the contaminated drywall fall in price, they will be foreclosed upon;
The banks will process these toxic assets by demolishing them, writing down the losses, prompting a contraction of lending, widespread layoffs, and a few quarters of negative growth;
Thousands of families will be bankrupted, jobs will be lost; the adverse societal effects of broken families, divorces, and school dropouts will ripple through the nation;
All imports from China will be suspect; there will arise a cottage industry of private market inspectors and quality assurance firms, but since not all builders will use them, the level of risk within the building industry will add a few basis points to every construction loan, and be reflected in higher prices for houses, apartments, and offices.

Eventually society will accept that all products are at risk of toxic materials and this risk will be borne by the consumer;
The occasional explosion, where a batch of toxic materials turns up in our food, clothing, or consumer products; the occasional bout of poisonings from melamine in milk or lead in paint will be seen as just one of those things that cannot be avoided.
Consumers will react to this higher level of risk by being defensive- purchasing less, maintaining a higher level of savings to cover unexpected adverse results, depressing consumption, leading to lower economic growth permanently.

You see? Problem solved.

quote:

ORIGINAL: popeye1250

Boy! All this "FREE TRADE" just keeps getting better and better and better doesn't it?
Why do we "Need" to trade with China anyway? Can't Mattel produce toys with lead paint on them in the U.S.?

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ORIGINAL: MzMia

Hell, many areas of the United States have rates around 30%-40% now.
[

quote:

ORIGINAL: Mercnbeth


"No drywall being manufactured here." Is that the meaning you took from; "Us companies can't afford to produce it here."? Okay - I can see that incorrect and agenda based interpretation; however that is neither what I said nor inferred. For me there is a clear distinction.

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Nevertheless, you don't get to tell me what my point is. The results bear it out. It was, and must still be, easier to import from China than increase production (albeit temporarily), or better yet build a new plant, since there is still a large amount of drywall among the many billions of dollars of other goods, being imported from 1/2 way (FL may be 2/3) around the world in China.

If not for government hurdles and environmental regulations why is that the case?

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ORIGINAL: willbeurdaddy

quote:

ORIGINAL: MzMia

Hell, many areas of the United States have rates around 30%-40% now.
[

What is "many areas" and how many people does that represent?

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ORIGINAL: chiaThePet


It's 2009.

It's Bush's fault.

The twins should have to prostitute themselves to reimburse the downtrodden.

chia* (the pet)

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ORIGINAL: AnimusRex

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ORIGINAL: rulemylife
It had nothing to do with government regulation.  Most drywall is still manufactured here.

but the process is self-regulating; the government doesn't do any inspection and simply trusts ASTM.

ASTM in turn relies on the honesty and truthfullness of the applying manufacturer. ASTM doesn't have, for instance, a team of inspectors who make surprise inspections of a gypsum plant to make sure they are doing it right. They don't have any actual police or subpoena power. Its pretty much on the honor system.

In addition, even if the architect's specifications call for ASTM certified drywall, the builder can substitue Chinese drywall instead; very few city building inspectors would catch that.

With respect to how it is litigated: Different states have different laws regarding product liability; most developers and architects carry insurance to protect them; but often the insurance turns out to be inadequate, or the firms simply vanish, leaving the end user holding the bag.

Some states have more rigorous regulation and enforcement; others prefer to trust the invisible hand to, um, show its face.

quote:

ORIGINAL: AnimusRex


yes, and its important to keep in mind that not a whole lot of Chinese drywall mades its way here; the problems were pretty isolated to Florida, and only a few buildings there.

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ORIGINAL: Brain


You think you're joking and being funny but the truth is your right. The fact is his right wing free enterprise deregulation Adam Smith invisible hand ideology did cause this problem.

I'm not in the mood these days because of teabaggers, Repugs, and sellout Democrats to object to your solution.

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ORIGINAL: Brain
The fact is his right wing free enterprise deregulation Adam Smith invisible hand ideology did cause this problem.

quote:

ORIGINAL: AnimusRex

LadyEllen:
yes, and its important to keep in mind that not a whole lot of Chinese drywall mades its way here; the problems were pretty isolated to Florida, and only a few buildings there.

quote:

ORIGINAL: MzMia

quote:

ORIGINAL: willbeurdaddy

quote:

ORIGINAL: MzMia

Hell, many areas of the United States have rates around 30%-40% now.
[

What is "many areas" and how many people does that represent?

Now, I guess you want to tell me that the number of unemployed is not high?
Most people can agree that the numbers the government reports are not as high as the "real" numbers.
When you count the people that have just given up and stopped looking, and those that have settled for part-time work, you can double the numbers below.


Regional and State Employment and Unemployment Summary