Things Fall Apart: The Coming End of the Free Trade Coalition

The American Conservative ^ | September 27, 2004 | Ian Fletcher, VP, American Engineering Association

[justshutupandtakeit]

This was also the case during the Republic's early years.

As long as economic luddenites and crackpots are not leading this nation the rest of the world will continue to invest here. Where would it be safer?

Should a Buchanan achieve office the outflow would be staggering.

[radicalamericannationalist]

So much better to do nothing then and spend tens of billions taking care of cheap labor.

[Sam Cree]

I remember as a kid staying a night in the John Marshall Hotel in Richmond, VA. Not at all sure it is still there.
That was a long time ago.

[Chad Fairbanks]

Personal attacks have no place on the forum. Desist please.

Oh, THIS is rich, coming from you. Ahhhhahahahahahahaha

Pot, meet Kettle.

[The Old Hoosier]

We haven't lost all of our industries, nor will we. Although some of them continue, just with fewer jobs due to automation.

[oceanview]

you mean, like consumer electronics? anything left of that? when we lost it, people said "oh, its just VCRs and TVs", buggywhips. so who controls the entire world market for flat panel displays, a mega-billion $$$ industry - Japan, South Korea & Taiwan.

[The Old Hoosier]

so who controls the entire world market for flat panel displays, a mega-billion $$$ industry - Japan, South Korea & Taiwan.

Indeed. And somehow, unemployment remains low and Americans enjoy an unprecedented material standard of living.

[justshutupandtakeit]

If you believe your statement was significant there is nothing I can say. Maybe two sentences collided and their merger didn't quite rise to the level of meaningfulness.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Can you believe the whining coming from him over an "insult" which wouldn't have gotten a whimper out of a six yr old girl?

Disputing his snide remark insulting the memory of one of our greatest Founders, second only to Washington, is a "personal attack."

My "suspension" which he brought about by his whining on another thread lasted all of an hour. Rather than discuss it with the Moderator I just went to lunch leaving him in command of the "field." Probably made his day.

[justshutupandtakeit]

What a great memory. The biography by Jean Smith is just astounding in unfolding his genius. What men we had back then creating a nation now in grave danger of falling into the hands of traitors like Kerry. A modern day Aaron Burr.

[William Terrell]

United States exports are over 1 trillion dollars a yr and you sneer at this? How many million jobs does this create?

What exactly does the US export at 1 trillion a year? And who produces it?

What percentage of US imports is petroleum?

You tell me.

If there is a "glut" of workers as you claim how is it possible to maintain higher wages here than what the market would produce?

Wages are obvious either down from what they were 2 decades ago in some sectors or the same, with prices higher. Whole sectors are missing and the technical work is going offshore.

You know this very well.

It doesn't matter why medical costs have escalated. The point is that they stay the same or increase when wages trend downward.

Why is so hard to understand that it's ok for prices to be high when they are still a reasonable percentage of wages in each, or most, commodity category? Then we would have a wide range manufacturing base in America.

We care because millions of jobs and trillions of dollars of exports are bought by the rest of the world and because we CANNOT provide all the oil we need which makes up the bulk of our imports. I have no idea what fantasy you indulge in to escape that reality.

We didn't used to, and we had a very healthy economy. When we had a healthy economy, we traded with each other. We don't need to prop up third world and slave labor regimes. The only reason we would, would be for the purpose of a world trade backdoor to a global government.

You a globalist, hoss?

My guess is that you are, otherwise would you have to sprinkle your theories with demeaning insults if your data could stand on their own.

I don't care to live in the world you envision, friend. It has been done the way I described and it worked. It has not been done the way you describe before, and the dissatisfaction spreading through the country directly and indirectly linked to it indicates that it will not work.

What you want to happen doesn't necessarily happen. Economists are wrong about each predicted trend in proportion to the number of them that make a prediction about the trend.

I'll stick with what works and keeps my family safe and prosperous. I am a conservative.

[justshutupandtakeit]

While I didn't check the composition of exports in general it is agricultural products, machinery, machine tools, computers etc. An odd combination of raw materials and ultra high tech stuff reflective of the incredible versatility of our economy.

An earlier poster calculated about 6.5% I had believed it was a little less than 10.

People's lives are better materialistically than they were decades ago. I reject the counter argument catagorically.

Medicine is expected to provide near immortality. How many billions and billions are spent keeping old folks alive an extra few yrs. Years filled with pain and misery for the most part. I am approaching the age where this come become an issue in my life and hope to God it is not prolonged without good reason.

We have the widest industrial base in the entire world. You are not viewing the world that is but the world the RATmedia paints.

Your comments wrt price and wages indicates you do not have a grasp of the fundamentals. Are you trying to make a distinction between real and nominal wages? Nor do you have a grasp of world economic history if you believe this nation EVER was not intimately involved with exports. Our entire early history was tied up with exports of agricultural goods, and imports were extremely important as well.

"Globalism" is a concept of the radical Left and its modern name for "Capitalism" thus I reject the concept in its entirity. I am a believer in capitalism and recognize that there is a World Economy. Though you claim to be a conservative what you advocate is vastly increased governmental control over the economy which would end in socialism.

[Protagoras]

54, white,

Careful, your new buddy is Mr. PC. He will call you a racist now for having that in your profile.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Anyone can call me whatever they wish I'm a big guy and can take it as well as dish it out. And I don't need the moderator to run interference for me.

[Protagoras]

Anyone can call me whatever they wish I'm a big guy and can take it as well as dish it out.

Your a big White guy. You go out of your way to make sure people know it.

And I don't need the moderator to run interference for me.

I don't think they will anyway, they have a habit of tossing you off the site.

[OXM_1962]

Who and what are Luddites?

What are the nature of these foreign investments? Do they invest in stocks, bonds or government debt? Isn't this going to effect the value of the dollar eventually?

[OXM_1962]

I started having second thoughts about "free trade" after watching a panel debate the issue on C-SPAN. The most informative speakers were Paul Craig Roberts, some union economist and Stephen Moore of Cato.

The most damning criticism was that American multinationals are not just moving production offshore but are creating R & D ceters in China as well. The long term ramifications of this are rather ominous. Stephen Moore, or any of the other two panelist supporting free trade, did not adequately address or rebutt this criticm.

[justshutupandtakeit]

Luddenites were 19th century folks who were so concerned about machinery putting people out of work because of its vastly increased productivity that they destroyed the machinery.

Foreign investment can take the forms you mentioned as well as buying companies outright. Investments increase the value of the dollar because they must buy dollars to make them. Japanese auto companies use this method called "direct foreign investment" as well as buy a lot of government bonds.

[1rudeboy]

Tell those americans working in foreign auto plants that make light trucks. the tariff on light truck imports is the reason why Toyota, Nissan, etc al, are building pickups in Texas and Alabama.

Gosh, I wonder if those Americans are out-numbered by the ones who are forced to spend more money on light trucks, and I wonder how many fewer are sold for the same reason.

[justshutupandtakeit]

That is a LIE. I certainly have NOT gone out of my way to inform anyone of my race although for some odd reason you seem to be obsessed with it. It is no more important to me than my age which is now 58 if you want to send a present.

That is another LIE. I had an hour "time out" ONCE because of your sniveling and whining when your balderdash got thrown back into your face. Then you had to go crying to Mommy because the big boys were playing too rough.

The Moderator probably thought you were one of the biggest @$$es he had ever seen.