Krugman: 85% of consumer spending in America is on American-produced goods and services

[JCMach1]

33. We have bauxite reserves, but no mining

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bauxite

and apparently we have done little to insure any new supplies of iron ore...

During the 1960's and 1970's, massive pelletizing complexes were built in the Lake Superior District to compensate for the shutdown of the natural ore mines. Today, the district still produces the bulk of the Nation's iron ore, but almost all of the ore being recovered is magnetite. Pellets made from finely ground magnetite concentrate now account for 97% of U.S. usable production (fig. 2). In the late 1980's, blast furnace operators began switching to fluxed pellets in response to environmental restrictions on cokemaking and higher energy costs. This more easily reducible type of pellet is created by adding limestone and/or dolomite to the iron ore concentrate during the balling stage. In 1990, fluxed pellets accounted for 39% of U.S. pellet production... http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/iron_ore/stat/

Somehow, I suspect the industry remaining is taking advantage of cheap foreign iron supplies... with the notable exception of the automobile industry.

Seems like American business doesn't like miners, or mining.

Can anyone say union?