At Christmas time, Americans often accessorize their celebration of the birth of Christ with childhood memories of family, friends, surprises, songs, decorations, and even classic television broadcasts - the latter of which, one must admit, often had very little to do with Christ, but still filled the heart with fondness and cheer.
One such classic is the 1970 Rankin and Bass stop-motion musical, “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” which outlines the fantastical “origins” of Saint Nick in a Germanic area near Sombertown. As Santa skirts the increasingly authoritarian edicts of the King’s appointed local governor, the Burgermeister Meisterburger, the Burgermeister goes all out to enforce his classic, gray-world approach to “law and order,” dictating “NO MORE TOYS!”
He even sings a song about it.
Thus, while referencing this delightful production, I know I might inspire fond memories and facilitate a more lighthearted view of this breaking story. But the news is not light. In fact, thanks to the Biden economy and the legacy of state and local COVID lockdowns (which Donald Trump’s Justice Department ought to have opposed on multiple constitutional grounds), and coming on the heels of decades of inflation and layer upon layer of government regulations over trade (especially in energy supply), we discover that America’s – and arguably (if one removes Lego from the list) the world’s – largest toy manufacturer will fall to exactly what the Burgermeister wanted.
A fifth of its workforce no longer will be making “MORE TOYS.”
Writes Jordan Andrews, for State of the Union:
“Hasbro, one of the world’s largest toymakers, is cutting 1,100 jobs, or about 20% of its workforce, due to challenging market conditions, including historic pandemic-driven highs and continued headwinds.”
This is Christmastime. This is the biggest toy-selling period of the entire year.
In other words, this not only is sad and tragic for the employees, which is the key, but it also is very alarming news for others.
It is alarming for those concerned about the continued inflationary policies of the fiat money-creators at the Federal Reserve.
It is alarming for those concerned about the resultant malinvestment of this fake, easy cash inspires.
And it is alarming for those concerned about the inevitable economic contraction and liquidation (in this case, of jobs) that results from this central-bank created, central-government promoted boom-bust cycle.
In fact, if one were to engage in something VP Kamala Harris seems to love, which is drawing “Venn Diagrams,” those circles almost always overlay one another.
Indeed, this news is alarming for anyone with a semblance of an understanding of economics.
Which means that the folks at the Biden Admin likely either won’t notice it or won’t want to discuss it.
Adds Andrews:
“CEO Chris Cocks cited persistent difficulties and indicated that the company will vacate its Providence, Rhode Island, headquarters when the lease expires in January 2025.”
But, heck, why not stay? Why not keep pumping out toys during a time that has seen prices skyrocket 17.7 percent since Joe Biden took office?
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Why not stay, when, just a year ago, Hasbro acknowledged that it had to raise prices due to higher transport costs?
Why not keep the corporation spending and investing in resources – including labor resources – when Joe Biden and his money-hungry pals in Congress have drastically increased business taxes?
Surely, now that Biden has restored the U.S. corporate tax to its old status as the highest in the “developed” world (lifting it from Trump’s 21 percent to 28 percent), it would be a really, really good idea for business people NOT cut expenses by cutting jobs and not to consider moving shop to some other nation.
And, gosh, the folks who work for Hasbro and live in Rhode Island have such an easy time with the state tax collectors. Surely, living in one of the most “tax-unfriendly” states for earnings and property taxes is tons of fun. And everyone enjoys the threats of the tax-men.
Andrews notes that Mr. Cocks sent a personal message to the employees and that he said, in part:
“While we have made some important progress across our organization, the headwinds we saw through the first nine months of the year have continued into Holiday and are likely to persist into 2024.”
And he added:
“I know this news is especially difficult during the holiday season. We value each of our team members – they aren’t just employees, they’re friends and colleagues. We decided to communicate now so people have time to plan and process the changes.”
It is sad and alarming, and it is not going to get better. As the Federal Reserve signals looser interest rates, the imaginary-value cash they pump out will simply cause more malinvestment and price increases, even as Biden and his ilk explode the US debt, toss money and weapons around the globe, strangle our energy supplies, funnel money into pork interests, and continue to regulate numerous sectors of our economy into being too expensive to operate in the US.
Biden might not be singing about “NO MORE TOYS,” but his policies are leading to this, and to dark, dark times for Hasbro, children, and the parents who pray for the best future for all at Christmas.
Let’s hope that, like the fond memories we have about “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” we Americans don’t have only memories to sustain us this year. We need jobs, low taxes, monetary freedom from central banking, the respect our rights deserve, and an understanding of right and wrong.
That message is powerful at Christmas. But Biden likely won’t get it.
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