Posted on 10/09/2011 1:37:52 PM PDT by Toddsterpatriot
Milton Friedman shows the stupidity of tariffs.
Buy American, without government interference.
well we know what free trade has done for the American steel industry.
What has it done for American steel users?
My first new car purchase was a 1977 Toyota Corolla.
Zero? Really? Link?
Why buy American? I want to buy Tennessean. Nothing from outside my state.
None of that neo-liberal Milton Friedman clap trap.
We are the 99%!! (we are the 99%).
“What has it done for American steel users?”
It allows them to import bridges from China. Made exporting all those dollars a lot easier too. Not to mention the jobs, the technology, and the steel mills.
Don’t confuse dennis with the facts.
He thinks the trade deficit causes the budget deficit.
Importing cheaper goods? That’s awful!
The government must step in, right now.
Tell Obama how he can make it better.
Buy American is the only good idea the flea-baggers have.
Unfortunately, it’s among the most powerful ideas going.
Our side ignores it (and they are ignoring it) at our peril.
Just remember how quick Trump rocketed to lead the GOP field on the issue.
2 days it took. 2 days.
exporting jobs, thats great!
trade imbalance, wonderful
loss of technology, super!
But the world has limits that Friedman ignores. He seems to assume reasonably good intentions on the part of both parties.
Suppose the other party undercuts our prices, ends up owning the entire industry, and finances our spending not by buying the stuff we make but by loaning us back what we spent. Then, when we are used to buying stuff without making anything to sell in return, they pull the rug out. We would be hosed.
Left alone, we'd eventually get back on our feet. But if the other party has nefarious purposes behind this, we certainly would not be allowed to do so easily.
Would China be hurt if this happened? Certainly, but it might be ok with their leaders as long as they ended up on top.
At the end, Milton asks why we should refuse foreign aid. Foreign aid doesn't have that good a history. It's worked a couple of times, such as Europe and Japan, but has a lousy record in other places and times. Checkout the book title (something like) "Confessions of an Economic Hitman". You want to be real careful about the terms of foreign 'aid'.
Milton is right about tariffs in a non-hostile world. But that's not always reality.
It’s a terrible idea to mandate that you can only buy American.
Mussolini tried that and it crippled Italy. That’s why I’m positive that Obama will do the same thing.
“Milton is right about tariffs in a non-hostile world. But that’s not always reality.”
You’re assuming that economic ties are independent from foriegn relations.
If two nations trade together and are dependent upon on another, then what sense does it make to go to war?
Who said anything about mandates.
I favor across-the-board import tariffs.
It’s how American originally raised government revenues to pay for things like our Navy. And building the interstate highway system.
And winning World War II.
Before we stopped making things here...
Zero or virtually zero Japanese automobiles being imported in 1979.... go look it up
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