War and Steel

War and Steel

I’ll start this off by saying this- In no way shape or form, do I or anyone associated with this site or blog, want war or the spoils of war. With that said, war and steel go hand in hand and make strange bedfellows. No matter how I looked at things this past week after the launching of multiple missiles by North Korea, one of those flying directly over Japan, it seems we are destined for a skirmish, either physically, or economically.

The Past

Any historian will tell you there was one main factor the dragged the US out of the Great Depression, WW II and its insatiable need for steel and other commodities during the war effort. After the Allies victories in Europe and Japan, the United states had one of its largest boons of economic prosperity ever seen. For example, US Steel (the company) produced 35 million tons of steel in 1953 the last year of the Korean War.

Since the low cost to manufacturer, reasonable shipping cost and labor at a stand still, the Great Depression looks like a small blip on the screen in the scheme of things.

The Future

With manufacturing and cheap exports from China (1) and Japan (2), the US seems to be poised to benefit if there is escalation of war in the Asian arena. Not simply because of the need a war creates, but simply due to the fact of the characters involved. It’s no secret that China has used its influence with North Korea to increase its trade productivity with the US and other nations. That most likely stops with the current Freshman President. President Trump made a vow pre election to the rust belt of the US to increase overall productivity, and unless he would like history to prove him wrong, I imagine he would use this opportunity get the mills of the Midwest back up and running, even if there is not one American soldier mobilized for war.

President Trump also committed to growing our Naval fleet by more than 355 new warships, carriers an cargo ships. This is a about an 80% increase in total fleet volume, unprecedented prior to WW II (sound familiar). Former President Ronald Reagan did something similar in the 80’s during the cold war (sound familiar? talks of Nukes heading our way), that eventually lead to one of the greatest economic boons in our lifetime.

So don’t fret, worry or build a bunker. You may though, want to stock up scrap metal, and wait and see!