Posted on 08/11/2011 7:54:04 AM PDT by milwguy
Edited on 08/11/2011 7:55:59 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Free traders "cheer" economic liberty. Protectionists, not so much. That's why they twist themselves into pretzels pretending that they hear things.
I could tell you that the economy is dynamic (and I will), and years later you will claim that I am indifferent to folks losing their jobs.
“You are absolutely correct. One principle of free trade (NAFTA, etc) is that production will readjust globally, to the benefit of all.”
And some of us thought that not fighting to keep labor intensive jobs was a bad idea. Not everyone is suited for tech jobs. Not to mention manufacturing generally leads us out of recession. There is also the national security issue of not making basic items.
It appears we “protectionists” weren’t as crazy as the free traders tried to tell us we were.
how bad does it hafta get before the liberals dump obama?
Economic Freedom & Quality of Life.How can it be that economic liberty leads to lower poverty rates, higher incomes, and higher standards of living?
And now you’ve found the nut. What do you think our government should do to keep labor-intensive jobs here in the United States?
But even you has admitted that free trade does not exist between the US and China. Actually, it exists between the US and very few nations.
So what you really defend here are the one-sided trade agreements that US pretend free traders have sold the US voters for decades. And free trade will never exist because most nations, other than the US, refuse to sacrifice their economic strength on the altar of free trade, real or imagined.
But all those nations do appreciate people who continually pretend and defend the one-sided trade agreements that are so much to the advantage of nations other than the USA.
China appreciates you, 1rudeboy. Keep on pretending.
“I could tell you that the economy is dynamic (and I will), and years later you will claim that I am indifferent to folks losing their jobs.”
Or, you could focus on verbiage, rather than admit that free traders were wrong in a way that is costing us dearly now.
Cheer, support, encourage, champion... pick your word, whichever makes you happy. I guess when you lack substance, parsing is important?
“Protectionists”, if that’s how you choose to categorize me, favor what’s good for Americans, as best as we can tell.
As it turns out, free traders have dynamically guided us into a very bad place.
Please see #24.
“How can it be that economic liberty leads to lower poverty rates, higher incomes, and higher standards of living? “
Not sure the U.S. can claim those things now, certainly not all of them, and it certainly will not be the case for the next few generations.
I should also add, if things were working so well, obama and his ilk would not be in power today.
It’s Another Unexpected Thursday....
And as evidenced by some of the comments on this thread, they will continue to steer us in that direction for some time. There's really no other way to explain why certain folks confuse the failure of government with the failure of the market, apart from the notion that they are being played for suckers.
Yep..and coming faster than most think. This will impact the US also greater then most think. Those working the strings behind the scenes, on the International Scene, are moving right along for a one world monitary system...which cannot be unless the current one is destroyed.
“And now you’ve found the nut. What do you think our government should do to keep labor-intensive jobs here in the United States?”
The answer is easy, the implementation is hard, what with the greens, the liberals, and the union thugs.
Regulation is insane. Stossel did a piece on starting a business to sell t-shirts. In America, it takes a week of paperwork. I forget the country, somewhere in SE Asia, it took 2 hours. And that’s just a minor example. We need to back off and quit punishing business.
Tax incentives. If a city can build a stadium for billionaires to make money employing millionaires, why can’t we cut taxes on manufacturing? The taxes on the income of the workers and the money they spend in the local economy would far offset any cuts.
I’m not fully versed, so I’ll have to say that I’ve read, but don’t know intimately, that the US government has supported moves offshore with tax benefits. If this is the case, that’s insane as well.
Even if it costs more to employ Americans, it would be cheaper in the long run, due to reduced shipping, and reduced language barriers, not to mention foreign payoffs, to produce here. Assuming the tax and regulation issues could be addressed.
But as we know, with our broken political system, none of this happens without pressure. Given the fractures on this board, and translating that to the political realm, there was no coherent push for our politicians. And without motivation, they take the path of least resistance.
But free trade isn't working. If it was, the USA would be a net exporter of goods, or at least there would be a roughly balanced situation. Sure, free trade isn't the sole reason for our trade imbalance, but it's a huge part of it.
And surely you can't believe that being a huge net importer of goods - with no change in sight - is OK for any country?
By the way, that was a good video. But the point of that video was that economic freedom is a good thing, not that free trade is a good thing.
A country can certainly have economic freedom internally and still have a sane “fair trade” policy with other nations.
So much for the weak dollar increasing exports.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.