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I am sick to death of the stupid anti-free arguments I hear.

Let's lay it out once and for all - what are you going to replace free trade with? The answer is going to be Tarrifs to "protect" selected industries.

Let's move to the next part - who does the selection? The Government! Have we forgotten what the Great Man said on January 1981 - that government was the problem: bumbling, mindless, bloated, stupid government was making economic decisions with the money that productive citizens earned, and by its very detachment from the realities of the marketplace, it was making the wrong decisions.

The anti-free traders wring their hands and plead "oh pity me" for the sake of increasing the power of the state to pick when the market is operating "fairly or not". Here's some home truths, old boy - life isn't fair. As a conservative, you ought to have enough brain cells to rub together to believe that.

The prescription for dealing with competition is less regulation and taxation, not more. No one wants to acknowledge that China and other countries may be doing well because the Democrats and Socialists have piled on regulation after regulation which blunts the productivity advantage that workers in Britain and America might have.

To conclude, in their fear of competition the anti-free traders are economic "girlie men", as Governor Schwarzenegger would say. They're looking for nanny state to take care of them and coddle them and tuck them into bed at night, giving them guarantees.

By the way, I am speaking as someone who has been at the rough end of this - having seen jobs outsourced to India. I had to learn new skills, I had to work harder, but I am still doing well. I didn't expect the state to shield me from outsourcing. I do expect businesses to work out that it may not be the panacea that they think it is when their customers complain. But in no way do I want tarrifs to limit my choices or raise the prices of things I pay.

Ivan

No one wants to acknowledge that China and other countries may be doing well because the Democrats and Socialists have piled on regulation after regulation which blunts the productivity advantage that workers in Britain and America might have.

I disagree. It's the fact the Chinese can afford to live on about $90/month and the companies pay those wages.

This is their advantage: She works a minimum of ten hours a day hunched over a sewing machine and earns just £60 pounds a month. Her pay is docked if she does not meet the quota set by her boss.

The prescription for dealing with competition is less regulation and taxation, not more. No one wants to acknowledge that China and other countries may be doing well because the Democrats and Socialists have piled on regulation after regulation which blunts the productivity advantage that workers in Britain and America might have.

Most of the most heavily polluted cities on this planet are in China. China is so free of regulation that toxic waste is just dumped into the river and whole villages downstream die of cancer. Is that what you want ? It is what free traders apparently do.

OK. Gummint has screwed business with taxes and regs.

Now: YOU retract all the taxes and regs. In the meantime, we'll work on tariffs which EQUALIZE the cost-of-doing-business across borders.

That is to say, "FAIR trade."

When you finish eliminating corporate taxes and regs, we'll drop the tariffs to EQUALIZE the cost-of-doing-business.

STILL FAIR TRADE.

Get busy.