“To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture.”
Posted on 04/08/2016 2:15:00 PM PDT by Kaslin
"Trade" has become a dirty word in this year's presidential race, with candidates of both parties bemoaning the American jobs supposedly lost to foreign competition because of our trade policies. Donald Trump has repeatedly threatened a trade war with our most important trading partners, who, he claims, are "killing us." But Ted Cruz, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton all fret about the issue and vow to take a harder stance, as well, if elected. Obviously, the message is resonating with the electorate, which makes it more dangerous still. Is there anything that can be done to reverse this sudden anti-free trade frenzy?
Education on the issue is sorely lacking. Most people see trade as a zero-sum game. If China sells us more than we sell China, it results in a trade deficit -- which must be bad, right? If products that used to be produced in the U.S. by American workers are suddenly being built in Mexico by Mexican workers, that's bad for us, isn't it? Try convincing a guy who used to build auto parts in Michigan that he's better off overall because those parts are now being manufactured in Mexico. It's a hard sell. But the fact is that all of us benefit from the availability of products imported from lower-wage countries; we're a lot better off, as it happens.
Trump says he would raise tariffs on Chinese and Mexican goods; he's thrown around the figure 45 percent for China and 35 percent for Mexico. He seems to believe that if he did so, China would stop manipulating its currency and Mexico would crack down on illegal immigration. But think, for a moment, about what raising tariffs on these countries' goods would mean for the average American, even if Trump were successful in making this move unilaterally with no retaliation against American goods from the governments he'd be punishing (a fantasy).
Most people want to pay as little as possible for goods, provided that the goods meet their expectations for quality. Americans buy Chinese-made clothing -- and increasingly clothing from other, cheaper sources, such as Malaysia and Vietnam -- because they see value in paying less, even if the quality isn't quite the same. You don't expect a Chinese-made silk blouse to be the same as an Italian-made silk blouse, but you pay a lot less on average for the former. It's the same with electronic goods, toys, furniture, lighting and a host of other Chinese imports.
The United States is the biggest importer in the world precisely because Americans crave goods that other countries can produce at cheaper prices than we can at home. If we were to invoke tariffs, American consumers would end up paying them in higher prices, not the Chinese or Mexican government, or else doing without the products altogether.
Like your smartphone? If so, you'd better hope that Trump's trade fantasies don't become a reality. Several countries contribute to the making of an iPhone. It begins with engineers in the United States, but many of them are foreign-born. Rare minerals from Mongolia go into chips and other components. The gyroscopes come from Italy and France, and the microchips are manufactured in South Korea and Taiwan. Assembly mostly happens in China. The gadgets aren't cheap, but they would cost a whole lot more if every part had to be manufactured and assembled in the United States.
International trade is so interwoven into modern life that it is difficult to see how we could do what Trump and others promise, namely bring back American jobs. Though it is true we have far fewer manufacturing jobs than we did a generation ago, much of the reason has to do with gains in productivity in the manufacturing sector, not jobs being shipped overseas. Again, those gains, which sometimes put individuals out of work, benefit everyone at the cash register.
A far better way to deal with the downside of international trade is to help retrain workers whose jobs have disappeared. That way, they can learn the skills still in demand in the United States. We already provide relief to workers whose jobs have been adversely affected by trade agreements -- including wage supplements for certain workers, health benefits and training -- but the programs are bureaucratic and depend on individuals to take the initiative to find new fields of employment and secure needed training.
Politicians' exploiting American workers' fears and anxieties about trade is nothing new, but we should not change policies that benefit the great majority of Americans with lower prices, access to more goods and opportunities for American companies to excel at what they do best, innovating and providing leading-edge products that are the envy of the world.
“But think, for a moment, about what raising tariffs on these countries’ goods would mean for the average American,”
Eventually, people need to realize the cheap ride is not good. Free trade has done nothing but put Americans out of work and line the pockets of multinationals as they pocket the difference.
I’ll buy and sell freely.
Who, by name, is so wise and good that they should supplant my judgement with their own on penalty of taxation for the leviathan state?
It’s amazing the condition we’re in having lost multiple tens of millions of jobs, and you still have folks fronting for the global back-stabbers.
“Who, by name, is so wise and good that they should supplant my judgement with their own on penalty of taxation for the leviathan state?”
Why Mister Donald Trump is obviously so much smarter than you are.
Meanwhile, mandatory minimun wages are making overseas manufacturing more attractive. This writer applauds all the cheap crap we buy, and minimizes the lost domestic manufacturing sector, and writes it off as due to ‘more efficient methods’.
“Free trade has done nothing but put Americans out of work and line the pockets of multinationals as they pocket the difference.”
The ones who have been “pocketing the difference” are the average Americans who have seen the quality of life increased by the availability of low cost and high quality goods.
By what method of divination does Mr. Trump know my mind better than I?
Or are you merely proposing my slavemaster?
So, you prefer the higher income taxes and assorted fees to support the welfare state which grows bigger and more expensive with each new "free trade" deal the US enters?
You're paying for it in the form of taxes, whether you choose to recognize it or not. But, current arrangements do enable you to foist trillions onto future generations.
“The ones who have been “pocketing the difference” are the average Americans who have seen the quality of life increased by the availability of low cost and high quality goods.”
I’ll be watching to see if the price of Oreo’s or Carrier Air Conditioners goes down with eager anticipation.
Unable to answer a direct question.
Fail.
If those idiots think that the minimum wage increase helps the workers they better think again. Instead of getting higher paychecks the hours are cut and as a result there is no wage increase but often a reduction.
Education on the issue is sorely lacking.
Under Statement of the year!!
We live in a Country today that is built entirely upon CREDIT and Credit Money. All Federal Reserve Notes and Credits were LOANED in to society with Interest Attached. This in and of itself requires a Mathematical THEFT OF VALUE(inflation) on an Ever Increasing Basis just to stay even. ANd if you want Growth, the math grows exponentially. There is NO Way out of an Economy built entirely on CREDIT.
We need these Trade Deals to help MASK the Real effects of a Pure Fiat Currency using fractional reserve banking. Otherwise the whole thing would have collapsed a long time ago.
It doesn’t take thousands of pages of semi-secret documents to create a free trade agreement, if the agreement is actually creating free trade.
In other words, free trade is a wonderful idea. What we’re getting in these “free trade” agreements is something else, entirely.
The U.S. did great for over 180 years with high import tariffs. Our founding fathers viewed them as a tax on foreigners wanting to sell into our markets.
We pay for cheap imports multiple times. Once when we buy the import. When we pay extra taxes to support the unemployed Americans. When we pay extra taxes because those unemployed Americans aren’t paying their share of taxes anymore. And when we pay extra taxes because we had to borrow money from China because of the unemployed Americans and are now paying interest.
Well said.
Problem is we got a mob of crazed fanatics that have renounced the use and authority of reason. They say their silly "trade deficit" numbers ship jobs overseas and when they see how jobs increase w/ the TD they say all the numbers are meaningless. They say the TD numbers mean money leaves the U.S. and when you show them that it doesn't they say the gov't stats are all lies --all except the TD. This is actually a problem we've had for hundreds of years:
“To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture.”
“By what method of divination does Mr. Trump know my mind better than I? Or are you merely proposing my slavemaster?’
I was merely answering your question: “Who, by name, is so wise and good that they should supplant my judgement with their own on penalty of taxation for the leviathan state?”
But, I’m glad your mentioned ‘slavemaster’. Too few recognize that imposing tariffs “to save jobs” is the institution of a limited form of slavery where the consumer is made the slave of the producer. The federal government would choose the industries deemed worthy of protection and institute a system of forced wealth transfer to those industries with sufficient political connections from the majority of the population who are only consumers. Amazingly, some ‘conservatives’ see nothing wrong with using the powers of the federal government to extort wealth from some to give to others.
Tariffs are nothing more than the use of the federal government to institute a system of forced wealth transfer from those who consumer a good to those who produce the good.
Washington Lincoln Taft Trump on 1 second of thought.
Do you or do you not agree that the Free Traders have had their way since 1992?
Is the U. S. better off today? Yes or no?
The excrement coming out of the Free Traders mouths these days, is just utterly damnable.
Fail.
Lol, your question was nothing but a silly exercise in self-indulgence and self-delusion. You are definitely paying for this current trading system that gives us hundreds of billions in trade deficits and increasing long term unemployment, a decreasing worker participation rate, and ever increasing, means tested poverty programs.
Well, if you're a taxpayer that is. You're helping to pay for the part that's not put off on future generations of taxpayers.
The FAIL was you silly evasive, non-response.
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.