Free Republic

Trump’s populist campaign is fueled by working-class anger about unfair trade, an issue the Democrats need to reclaim The Democratic Party could have blocked the rise of Donald Trump years ago if it had just listened. The story of Trump’s amazingly successful movement is also the story of how Democrats turned their backs on their working-class roots and sided with the elites on the crucial economic question of our times: Who would win from globalization, and who would lose? The facts are stark. Since 1994, when the North American Free Trade Agreement went into effect and the U.S. began the...

Cruz addresses a major reason for our trade deficit. However ... If something confuses people? It invites corruption. A handy rule of thumb in government. Are VATs confusing? Very. ~~~ Even explaining a VAT* is tough because there are many different kinds. Some alleged VATs aren't even VATs according to many. But I'll break it down into two categories: 1. A good VAT. 2. A bad VAT. ~~~ A Good VAT Senator Cruz proposes 'turning the tables' on Europe and other nations which are sneaking money back to corporations which give them jobs. In the nutshell, a good 'VAT' is...

Free trade is supported by enlightened thinkers and academic economists.  Those who are opposed to free trade are seen as special interests trying to shelter uneconomic industries that can’t stand up to foreign competition.  It is a truism that no trade transactions would take place if they weren’t to the advantage of both parties.  What could possibly be wrong with trade that is advantageous to both parties? If free trade is so wonderful, one has to wonder why many of our trading partners are resistant to it.  Perhaps these countries are just behind the times.  They may not have...

By Stephen Moore & Lawrence Kudlow Here's a historical fact that Donald Trump, and many voters attracted to him, may not know: The last American president who was a trade protectionist was Republican Herbert Hoover. Obviously that economic strategy didn't turn out so well — either for the nation or the GOP. Does Trump aspire to be a 21st century Hoover with a modernized platform of the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariff that helped send the U.S. and world economy into a decade-long depression and a collapse of the banking system? We can't help wondering whether the panic in world financial markets...

Here's a historical fact that Donald Trump, and many voters attracted to him, may not know: The last American president who was a trade protectionist was Republican Herbert Hoover. Does Trump aspire to be a 21st century Hoover with a modernized platform of the 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariff that helped send the U.S. and world economy into a decade-long depression and a collapse of the banking system?

In my years working in the computer industry I have encountered many workers on H-1B visas. The most highly skilled among them were of average skill. On H-1B labor condition applications, employers using skills-based prevailing wage claims classified 56 percent of the H-1B workers at the lowest skill level (of four). For those not familiar with the industry, this creates an apparent contradiction. Why do employers crave below-average workers?

Cooper tires is becoming another victim of President Obama’s much too cozy relationship with the union machine. Cooper Tires was bought by an Indian company. After President Obama sent a thank you to the Steelworkers Union and slapped an absolutely brain-dead punitive tariff of tires coming from China, a few things happened: Imports of low-cost tires did not stop. They came from other countries, at tariffs even lower than the old ones on Chinese tires. Not a single new job was created in America, but more than a few jobs at tire importers were destroyed. Americans paid more for tires....

NEW DELHI—India has proposed sweeping curbs on the import of technology products ranging from laptops to Wi-Fi devices to computer-network equipment. The proposed regulations, which were reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, would create an expansive "Buy India" mandate requiring a large percentage of the high-tech goods sold in the country to be manufactured locally. If implemented, the rules could wreak havoc on the business plans of a wide range of U.S. and other foreign firms, including hardware-makers Cisco Systems Inc. CSCO and Dell DELL Inc.; services companies such as International Business Machines IBM Corp.; and telecom-gear suppliers such as...

- China on Friday issued a harsh rebuke of an anti-dumping complaint filed by U.S. solar firms, warning the United States not to take protectionist measures that could harm the global economy. Seven U.S. solar manufacturers on Wednesday asked the Obama administration to impose duties of more than 100 percent on China solar imports, which they said were unfairly undercutting U.S. prices and destroying American jobs. The controversy comes at a sensitive time in U.S.-China trade relations, which are plagued by U.S. concerns over market access in China, Beijing's treatment of intellectual property rights, and raging debate over the value...

... In a speech today, Mitt Romney took an unusual step for a GOP leader. He suggested the United States restrict trade with China over its many predatory tactics that hurt foreign businesses – from stealing patents to reneging on contracts to allowing fake Apple stores to outright bans on certain imports or services. ...

The Washington Post’s Philip Rucker caught Mitt Romney explaining how to think about economic policy when the labor market is depressed, housing has tanked, households are broke and the Fed is limited by near-zero interest rates: Romney criticized Obama’s $787 billion stimulus package, saying it did not create long-lasting jobs. He said he would have lowered tax rates, instituted fair trade policies and boosted energy independence to help create sustainable private-sector jobs. "The challenge with so-called stimulus is it tends to be throwing a little gasoline on the fire," Romney said. "It causes some heat. . . . It just doesn’t cause...

I have for some time been a basher and hater of "Fair Trade," in coffee and other commodities. In fact, as far as I'm concerned, Russ Roberts and I podcastrated the whole issue nearly four years ago. Sarah Marchmont wrote a very fair-minded article about it. Here is the basic economics--a rent is being created: a price above market price is being charged. In countries where property rights, contracts, and rule of law is tenuous, feel-gooders and scam artists have put together an unholy coalition. The feel-gooders create something called "Fair Trade" certification, which means that the farmers get...

Coffee is one of our guilty pleasures, and not only because of the calories that can be packed into a double latte. Many of us feel guilty that our pleasure is coming at the expense of the Third World coffee farmer, so much so that we gladly pay more for "fair-trade" coffee, which certifies that farmers receive more revenue for their crop. Today, on World Fair Trade Day, we have something else to feel guilty about. That fair-trade cup of coffee we savour may not only fail to ease the lot of poor farmers, it may actually help to impoverish...

Via Mediaite, which has excerpts from last night’s F-bomb cavalcade. One of our commenters in Headlines watched the clip and observed that Trump is basically a leftist caricature of Republicans brought to life. Precisely — but with the caveat that something like 20 percent of the GOP wants to embrace the caricature. (That number might already be slipping.) He knows he’s too compromised on conservative principles to get traction with the base so he overcompensates with tell-it-like-it-is populist bravado aimed at framing himself as the ultimate regular-guy outsider. Calling the Chinese MFers is the logical extension of that; if he...

Donald Trump has emerged in recent years as the nation's foremost China basher, going after the Asian superpower for undervaluing its currency and for taking American manufacturing and jobs. So it's at least ironic -- and at most an example of gross hypocrisy -- that Trump's own line of men's wear, the Donald J. Trump Signature Collection, is manufactured in China. I discovered this after walking from Salon's offices to the large Macy's in midtown Manhattan, where an entire section is devoted to the Donald J. Trump Signature Collection of suits and ties. This particular corner of the store is...

After a recent phone conversation with Donald Trump, syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer concluded that The Donald is "absolutely" serious about seeking the GOP Presidential nomination.  That's unfortunate.  The illiberal media will have a field day with Mr. Trump's flawed ideas on free trade. In January, Trump complained to talk radio's Michael Savage that Americans "no longer make things" and in March told a CNN interviewer, "Nobody, other than OPEC, is ripping off the United States like China."  In the CNN interview, Trump also said that China "is stealing all our jobs" and "making all our products."  He advocated "a...

Hey Freepers, On the subject of free trade, unions and patriotism. Earlier this morning I was thinking about the goings on in Wisconsin, and about a purchase I wanted to make later today, and I started thinking. All my life I have been told to buy things "Made in America." I have done so as much as was possible, and buy locally, if I can, but I was recently thinking about the union goings on in Wisconsin. I have been spending money on "American" tools, vehicles, clothing, foods, etc. as much as I can find, but I recently have though,...

That's what the moonbats at Grist want to know. After a long, long, long recitation of all the evils in Big Sex (you just know they'll have to call it that soon), they come up withIndividuals selling sex to others is, of course, just a small part of the sex economy. Far from being underground or taboo, many aspects are legal, even glorified (think beautifully crafted lingerie). It's a trillion-dollar cross-sector industry spanning live entertainment, pornography, pharmaceutical products, clothes, and accessories.I'd suggest that it is probably a bit higher than a trillion dollars. Regardless, the must become green!Feel like watching...

I don't know how many of you go digging around in the progressive church bulletins, but check this out: (from the above link) What is Fair Trade? Fair trade seeks to transform the lives of the poor in the developing world by enabling them to use their skills and resources to trade their way out of poverty. It seeks to challenge injustices in trading structures and practices that so often lead to the exploitation and marginalization of poor people. Fair Trade is essentially the exchange of goods based on principals of economic and social justice. It is a sustainable and...

Now that the Senate has returned from its August recess, its members have many issues with which to contend. Although health care reform has received much of the attention in recent weeks, another bill, the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 (H.R. 2454) or more widely known as Waxman-Markey or “cap & trade,” is equally deserving of scrutiny. This is because most major economic impact studies demonstrate that the “cap & trade” scheme proposed in the Waxman-Markey bill will create massive consumer costs with undefined environmental benefits. In June, the Waxman-Markey bill narrowly passed the U.S. House 219-212...