Bravo Dow Chemical (DOW) CEO

I am loving watching the CEOs of America begin to blast our politicians for their utter lack of leadership and ridiculous decision making. Tyson (TSN) Foods' CEO went off on the stupidity that is our boondoggle ethanol policy [Apr 28: States, CEO's Beginning to Snap Back at Ethanol; the "Administration" Holds Firm], now today the CEO of Dow Chemical (DOW) is blasting the entire lack of energy policy. I've watched this guy over the years since its a company in our state, and this is a bright mind; and coming from a foreign background, he has a lot more global view.

Frankly folks, for years we just hoped the politicians would stalemate (one brand of stupidity offsetting the other) and not do more damage - simply doing nothing was the 'best hope'. But after 15-20 years of heightened partisanship we are now the point that their total lack of vision is creating massive headwinds for the country as a whole. These people are now literally causing pain - they are like a series of iron spikes on the road as the country tries to roll forward. So before we hoped at best they would at least just be neutral (i.e. not cause more harm than good) instead of what their real purpose should be i.e. HELPING the country. But now it's just become a mess. But we are still in denial and the current solutions range from "suing" OPEC to bringing up CEOs on a parade to Capital Hill to grill them for their "price gouging". Sigh.

We are in a global competition and our "stewards" are at the level of a 3rd world banana republic. I am glad more and more people of power and influence are now coming to tell the truth. Oh by the way, there is a 20% price hike coming from Dow - not that it will show up in government reports. Because as all good banana republic leaderships do, you feed misinformation to the people to help keep the sheep calm. Go listen to CEO Andrew Liveris here - it is labeled under "Dow CEOs advice to US Lawmakers". And yes it hurts his company when energy prices go up, but it affects us all and our country's competitiveness. Listen to the CEO at about 4 minutes 30 seconds - when you hear about all the plants and jobs lost in America that Dow has done just to remain competitive globally.

• Dow Chemical Co. will raise product prices by up to 20% effective June 1 to deal with higher energy costs, the company said Wednesday.
• The Midland, MI based chemical company also criticized government inaction for the current "energy crisis," saying a lack of leadership in Washington is harming America's manufacturing sector.
• "The government's failure to develop a comprehensive energy policy is causing U.S. industry to lose ground when it comes to global competitiveness, and our own domestic markets are now starting to see demand destruction throughout the U.S.," said Chairman and Chief Executive Andrew Liveris in a statement.
• For 2008, Dow said it expects to spend about $32 billion on energy and hydrocarbon-based chemical feedstocks, up from $8 billion in 2002. In the first quarter, the company's feedstock and energy costs increased fully 42% from a year ago.
• Chemical companies have been struggling with cost inflation for some time, but Dow and its competitors have shown new urgency in recent weeks to pass along their escalating costs, leading to higher prices for customers

Remember, inflation is a tax on all things - producers and consumers. We will see demand destruction throughout the global economy due to these pass throughs which again are ONLY beginning to be seen by the end user.

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