Posted on 03/03/2012 9:07:29 PM PST by ianfletcher
Protectionism, and economic nationalism more generally, are usually held up by the supposed sophisticates today as dumb ideas. Sometimes, of course, they are. Bone-headed protectionism belongs in the junkyard of history with all the other ideologies rusting there. Nothing in this booklet is intended to defend it. But it can also be a smart, productive, pro-growth policy—and very much in the American and conservative traditions—when implemented correctly.
The fundamental message of this booklet is that nations, including the U.S., should seek strategic, not unconditional integration with the rest of the world economy. Economic openness, like most things in life, is valuable up to a point—but not beyond it. The Founding Fathers knew that, and wrote our Constitution to reflect it. Fairly open trade, most of the time, is justified. Absolutely free trade, 100 percent of the time, is an extremist position and is not. It is not a conservative, but a libertarian and globalist, policy.
Don’t misunderstand: it’s not trade per se that’s the problem. But trade, and free trade, are not the same thing. Remember that when somebody tries to tell you how wonderful free trade is: they’re probably just giving arguments in favor of trade. Nobody on the protectionist side is suggesting we become North Korea, but there are very serious reasons why free trade is not sound economics, and the longer America clings to the free-trade delusion, the higher the price we will pay. Indeed, abandoning it is almost certainly a necessary, if not sufficient, condition for revitalizing our economy.
(Excerpt) Read more at freetradedoesntwork.com ...
I can't. Your kind would completely destroy manufacturing because of your radical ideas and leave the good 'ole USA defenseless, unable to fight a war of attrition against a real enemy just to prove a point.
Yeah, freedom is sort of radical these days I suppose. We need us a good dose of government control -- that fixes all ills.
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