Posted on 03/03/2008 7:38:57 PM PST by jazusamo
It is fascinating watching politicians say how they are going to rescue the "rust belt" regions where jobs are disappearing and companies are either shutting down or moving elsewhere.
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) is being blamed for the jobs going elsewhere. Barack Obama blames the Clinton administration for NAFTA, and that includes Hillary Clinton.
Senator Obama says that he is for free trade, provided it is "fair trade." That is election year rhetoric at its cleverest.
Since "fair" is one of those words that can mean virtually anything to anybody, what this amounts to is that politicians can pile on whatever restrictions they want, in the name of fairness, and still claim to be for "free trade." Clever.
We will all have to pay a cost for political restrictions and political cleverness, since there is no free lunch. In fact, free lunches are a big part of the reason for once-prosperous regions declining into rust belts.
When the American automobile industry was the world's leader in its field, many people seemed to think that labor unions could transfer a bigger chunk of that prosperity to its members without causing economic repercussions...
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
The best thing each one of us can do for this country tomorrow is introduce someone to the wisdom that is Thomas Sowell and his writing.
Very well said!
Bravo Tango Tango Tango
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Sadly what Mr Sowell is saying also apply to a significant number of Freepers who rail against illegal immigrants who “steal our jobs”.
Not that I’m for illegal immigration, but we have to recognize that a large part of the reason they are here is because employers who wish to avoid being burdened by cost-creating regulations passed by politicians are actively hiring illegals instead of citizen. That these regulations are what’s creating the demand in the economy for illegal aliens.
Minimum wage, workman’s comp, family leave, etc, are all free lunches that the politicians tried to give to the public to buy their votes, and once again, those lunch do have a long term cost.
Want to really stop the illegal problem? Repeal those laws. A wall may stop some of them, but not nearly as many as fewer employment prospects will.
true free trade means no trade barriers and no subsidies -corporate welfare. Bush was for reducing barriers but he wanted to be “compassionate” by spending lots of money.
Someone needs to tell that to the random union thugs that troll FR shilling for their unions. Heck, just send them all "Basic Economics", although one of you may need to read it to them, since I don't have that kind of time on my hands.
LOL! You’re exactly right and I don’t want to take the time either.
I think the best way to deal with the illegal problem is to get tough on mexico’s corruption problem.
mexico is not exactly a libertarian country but taxes and govt spending are pretty low and people go there all the time for prescription drugs because there is less regulation.
The corruption is like a big tax that makes it hard for their economy to function and that’s why so many try to cross our border in the first place.
I’m not concerned about illegals stealing jobs. I think that argument deserves to be shot down quickly. The problem is they are taking up too much govt resources and they are a threat to our culture and social stability. of course, that also applies to legal immigration as well. Look at Europe, especially scandinavia.
they’d still try to come if the US offers a better deal than mexico. I think we do even without welfare. Mexico has to give mexicans a better deal and the US has to give them a worse deal in order to solve the problem.
I am not largely convinced that they are a economic drag on American society. Yes, they do consume some social benefits, but they also contribute to the economy both through production, providing cheap labor cost that reduces the price of goods, and consumption, and they have to pay some taxes such as sales tax and gas tax etc.
The real issue I have with illegal immigration, aside from the fact that I want a secured border for security reasons, is that because they are illegal, they cannot be integrated into regular society.
Immigration is not a problem as long as people are integrated into American culture and society. Because there is no integration, that’s how you end up with people have massive demonstrations waving the Mexican flag, because neither Americans nor they themselves see them as American.
The main problem I have with illegal immigration is the effect on our culture.
Even if there is an economic drag, it costs a lot of money to keep them out and kick them out which is why I think the best policy is to focus on the mexican govt. That’s the source of the problem and really...if you want to solve a problem effectively, you have to go directly to the source.
great essay by Sowell.
btw, you might find this interesting:
http://www.neoperspectives.com/Amnesty_From_Government.htm
“Though I think “progressive” types might not be able to latch on to such straight forward analysis. Settling down back home in SC as I will be, the influx of job seekers from “up yonder” give me the creeps. They ran off the corporations (for exactly the reasons Mr Sowell stated). They drove up property taxes with social programs and govt fix-it schemes. Now they head here to where the jobs have come and the cost of living is low. Unfortunately, they bring their “ideas” with them.”
Recommend this video that illustrates the numbers problem of accepting legal immigrants at the current level. When watching the video imagine if we legalized the ones who are here under the amnesty proposals. Link http://www.numbersusa.com/about/tvandvideo.html
Thanks for the link. Yes, that’s pretty much sums up my take on it as well.
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