Posted on 01/06/2008 1:03:48 PM PST by null and void
Putting it in the best light, Mr. Sullivan wants to replace one set of regulations by another which he sees as better for himself. How, then, is he less greedy than the corporations he attacks?
While I largely agree with you, it seems likely that wages in other countries being pennies on the dollar would certainly have a good bit to do with it too.
There is no way that we can compete with that, and we should not have to.
*sigh* I have no doubt that your words are true.
Rather than teach economics 201 myself. I suggest you read the following column by the renouned Economics Professor, and frequent Rush guest host Walter Williams. If you are still a protectionist when you get done, let me know.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/WalterEWilliams/2006/10/25/should_we_trade_at_all
Right, because competition is evil. Wouldn't want to actually increase the choices consumers have now would we?
I don’t think arming the Communist chinese is “overrated” any more than I do feeding our children and pets poisons to eat or toys to play with.
However, I understand that globalists have no other concern than money and profits for themselves, regardless. The “peons” are merely serfs and, therefore, expendable (just like this country’s language, culture and values), after all.
Sad but true. It will happen and I have a very strong suspicion we are watching it all unfold.
For economists I prefer Craig Roberts, who was greatly responsible for developing supply side theory and policies when he was a Republican staffer during the Carter and Reagan years. His writing on the conflating of trade with labor arbitrage is another valuable insight:
http://www.vdare.com/roberts/071008_cato.htm
If you don’t want China to use U.S. dollars to by missiles, then you need to cut off all trade with China. That’s a whole other discussion, one that I haven’t weighed in on.
I’m just addressing the protectionist “fair trade” rhetoric.
You mean the same Paul Craig Roberts that thinks that 9/11 was an inside job?
This isn’t a discussion of his peculiar views on 9-11. I suppose if you had anything relevant to share about his writing on the subject at hand you would have posted it.
Roberts whines about offshoring yet fails to mention the benefits that have been seen. I, for instance, greatly benefit by having a larger selection of goods at lower prices. Offshoring occurs because doing so decreases the cost of production. Competition forces businesses to sell goods at lower costs. In the end consumers as a whole benefit.
The rhetoric is coming from the global sell-outs that unfair trade is somehow “fair trade” and “good for America and Americans” when it’s anything but that.
All the reduction in the size of the middle class in the past 15 years has come from people moving *above* it, into the “make more than $100,000 a year” range.
Good point. Too bad it is ignored by so many.
Cocoa, coffee and saffron aren't quite the same as electronics components, armor plating or guidance systems we've outsourced to China and others.
It's about more than spices and seasonings. Our national security is being outsourced.
Roberts writes scholarly articles about how a confusion of absolute advantage with comparative advantage has led to errors in calculating the effects of offshoring. For you, this amounts to “whining” and the advice that “Competition forces businesses to sell goods at lower costs. In the end consumers as a whole benefit.”
I suggest you publish your wisdom asap, there’s surely a prize of some sort in your future.
Yes, comrade we must take from the rich and redistribute the wealth. Then we will all be living in a worker’s paradise.
It’s never worked before, but let’s try it anyway.
bmflr
It's called inflation.
Roberts has been whining for years that the American economy is doomed, yet that never happens. In fact, it's quite amazing that his arguments have so much in common with what the political left has to say.
As for Roberts absolute advantage argument, if that is indeed the case, why are there any jobs left here in America, if offshoring indeed gives one an absolute advantage?
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