Posted on 01/29/2017 12:36:24 PM PST by Kaslin
In what seemed like the ramblings of a 19th century Luddite, New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winner, Tom Friedman appeared on NBC’s Meet the Press Sunday where he issued a ridiculous warning about the US economy under President Donald Trump. “So what’s going to happen if prices go up? American companies will build those factories here,” he exclaimed, “And you know what they'll do? They'll completely robotize them. There will be no jobs!”
Friedman’s tirade was triggered by the very active first week of the Trump administration where the president signed executive orders on everything from immigration to economics. He warned of a cascading effect that started with Trump’s position on immigration. “One is we want to keep immigrants out. Where are greatest immigration-flows happening in the world today,” he rhetorically asked.
For the US, Friedman said the immigration flow was coming from Central America a place “hammered” by over “population and climate change. The collapse of small-scale agriculture.” No mention of out of control socialist governments. Friedman was up in arms that the US would take away funding for abortion as a way for them to have population control. “What does this administration come up full scale against? A family planning technology being extended by the US government and climate change is a complete myth,” he chided.
He argued that the increase in population coupled with the border wall would lead to a breakdown in the US/Mexico relationship when it came to national security. “Now how are the Mexicans gonna feel about keeping that going when we're building a high wall? Same thing with economics,” he conjectured. He was also concerned by Trump’s 20 percent tariff on goods coming in from Mexico.
Friedman: After Trump’s Policies ‘There Will Be No Jobs,’ Everything Automated
And although tariffs are harmful to consumers, Friedman made an Evel Knievel-like leap to a rather laughable conclusion:
Okay. What's going to happen? Prices will go up to American companies. Remember what happened on 9/11. On 9/11 the supply chain which goes from Canada to Mexico completely collapsed and completely disrupted our auto industry. So what’s going to happen if prices go up? American companies will build those factories here. And you know what they'll do? They'll completely robotize them. There will be no jobs!
If the NYT columnist was really appalled by the loss of jobs, he would be against the $15 per hour minimum wage he supports, which has been shown drive up prices and result in businesses closing. That’s not to mention that he repeated the long-debunked economic fallacy that automation equals no jobs.
In the book Economics in One Lesson, the world renowned economist and another NYT writer, Henry Hazlitt noted that the advancement in technology did more to add jobs in the automotive industry than to destroy them. “In 1910, 140,000 persons were employed in the United States in the newly created automotive industry,” Hazlitt wrote. He noted that when measured every 10 years there were over 100,000 thousand jobs added. Finally, he wrote, “In 1973 it had risen to 941,000.” And according to the Bureau of Labor Statists, in 2015, the number of people who worked in the industry was over 4 million.
But such baseless hyperbole is expected from the man who argued on the same show that “maybe this party needs to crash and burn and this version of the Republican Party needs to die.” And his laughable suggestions include fighting ISIS by putting a carbon tax on America, an idea even MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough scoffed at.
Transcript below:
NBC
Meet the Press
January 29, 2017
10:52:02 PM Eastern
CHUCK TODD: Discipline, Tom Friedman, I don't know, but then again Donald Trump doesn't mind the chaos.
TOM FRIEDMAN: You know, Chuck, one of the points I actually make in my book is from a systems analyst named Lynn Wells who said, “You shouldn't think in the box or out of the box. You should always think without a box.” And what he meant by that is the world is seamlessly integrated where telecommunications and markets and climate/environment they’re all interwoven.
So think about some of these policies that we heard this week. One is we want to keep immigrants out. Where are greatest immigration-flows happening in the world today? They’re actually coming from central Africa toward Europe and not actually from Mexico for us, from Central American the northern triangle. Both are hammered by the same problem, population and climate change. The collapse of small-scale agriculture.
What does this administration come up full scale against? A family planning technology being extended by the US government and climate change is a complete myth. Now let's talk about the wall. We'll protect ourselves from Mexico by building a wall. How many Americans know, I dare ask, Chuck, does President Trump know, that if you play into Mexico from Baghdad or Damascus do you know that your name pops up on Homeland Security here? Same as if you fly into Toronto. We have actually created a seamless North American security envelope.
Now how are the Mexicans gonna feel about keeping that going when we're building a high wall? Same thing with economics. You know, Trump says we'll have a 20 percent tariff on Mexican goods. Okay. What's going to happen? Prices will go up to American companies. Remember what happened on 9/11. On 9/11 the supply chain which goes from Canada to Mexico completely collapsed and completely disrupted our auto industry. So what’s going to happen if prices go up? American companies will build those factories here. And you know what they'll do? They'll completely robotize them. There will be no jobs!
TODD: That’s been the fear.
Americans are not going to be held hostage to this minimum wage crap that forces our kids out of the entry level job market in favor of low skilled adult illegals with a social security card. Plus I'm sick of making dinner I want my chefbot - and its taking to bloody long.
Oh yeah I was doing this when Obama was in office too.
The president has nothing to do with it other than all the regulations government oppressively puts on business owners.
Automation, robotics and all that jazz is going to lead to more opportunity - maybe who knows but the future usually plays out differently than we all imagine.
In the meantime building robots is lots of fun, especially when you start transforming junk around the house into machines that do your bidding - evil laugh
No Friedman.... That is what YOU and your Globalist buddies were going to do for the remaining jobs you could not export via NAFTA, GATT or the TPP you love so much.
The Unions knew this, and this is why the majority of them went against Hillary. As usual you are now lying in the public about your positions in order to confuse the weak minded.
Tin hat, anyone? If what this doofus says is so, then how come there have been so many commitments for job creations this past week?
Obamacare did more to accelerate automation to eliminate workers who had to have expensive health care than any tax could ever do. But, you’re a liberal. Tom, accustomed to a parallel reality
I'm sure that everyone would recognize the improvement in quality of his columns.
The Sky is Falling.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
signed,
Chicken Little
Calling him an idiot, however, is an insult to the mentally handicapped. He is willfully stupid, like those people you read about who blind themselves and amputate their own limbs.
And who started the recent automation movement? Protesters demanding $15 minimum wage that were recruited, organized and paid for by Soros’ money with Obama’s full approval.
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