Ping
A presidential candidate who campaigns on a platform of stopping illegal immigration, ending free trade and nuking Saudi Arabia would be so far ahead in the polls that he could tell the debate commisssion to "Go to Hell".
Free trade will be fine. But we've got to go back and take a good look at how we've implemented it.
We should only trade freely with nations that share our values and commitment to freedom. Free trade with any other nations only invites the kind of one sided trade we're experiencing with China.
Bump for later
Good article, but I have to disagree that agricultural and mining jobs are "immune" to offshoring.
Imported foods undercut domestic production,
And other imported goods undercut domestic demand for minerals and metals such as copper, lead, iron, coal, etc. etc. that are used as raw materials in manufacturing.
"Free" trade bump!
An English corporate raider by the name of Goldsmith, who was the basis of the robber-baron turned good-guy in the movie "Wall Street," suggested many years ago that free trade should exist between similiar economies so that everyone in the First World is not totally undermined by cheap Third World labor. Free trade, or trade with minimal tariffs, between Japan, Australia, USA, Canada, Europe, et.al. would definately create enough competition to keep a lid on inflation and be condusive to middle class stability. In addition to strengthing our economies, it will definately strengthen our values!!
"Protectionism" is a loaded word whose use should be properly challenged. For the life of me I don't know why GM and Ford can't compete against Honda and Toyota. But I do know that I can't compete against cheap Chinese labor and that I'm not interested in lowering my standard of living until we reach an equilibrium with the new Chinese and Indian middle classes!
Ultimately we have to ultimately decide whether we are a nation or a market.
An English corporate raider by the name of Goldsmith, who was the basis of the robber-baron turned good-guy in the movie "Wall Street," suggested many years ago that free trade should exist between similiar economies so that everyone in the First World is not totally undermined by cheap Third World labor. Free trade, or trade with minimal tariffs, between Japan, Australia, USA, Canada, Europe, et.al. would definately create enough competition to keep a lid on inflation and be condusive to middle class stability. In addition to strengthing our economies, it will definately strengthen our values!!
"Protectionism" is a loaded word whose use should be properly challenged. For the life of me I don't know why GM and Ford can't compete against Honda and Toyota. But I do know that I can't compete against cheap Chinese labor and that I'm not interested in lowering my standard of living until we reach an equilibrium with the new Chinese and Indian middle classes!
Ultimately we have to ultimately decide whether we are a nation or a market.
I think the gentleman underestimates the DLC's Third Way (or whatever they call it today) New Democrats. They did not act stupidly. They and the conservative "free traders" are fast partners. No stranger than Ralph Nader and Pat Buchanan partnering in opposition. The Third Way Democrats and "free trade" conservatives are indeed a political duopoly just as they are on "migrant labor" (ILLEGAL immigrants). I think it's called globalization.
What's at stake is the control of the world (Third Way Democrats and their foreign comrades) and a customer base of six billion middle-class spendin' fools -- or so the useful idiots (conservative "free traders") have been led to believe is theirs.
America’s experiment with free trade, which has outlived its Cold War purpose of bribing foreign nations to not go communist, will finally be over.
How ironic. If that was the purpose the purpose now is a Marxist revolution from the top down, IMO. The useful idiots provide the wealth for all via the market economy (and no small amount of redistribution of wealth through technology transfers and jobs) then that pesky dialectical materialism kicks in -- from the top this time.
Meanwhile the Third Way Democrats have alrady promised Nader's people and the anti-WTO radicals that there will be social justice, economic justice, racial justice, and environmental justice in the end. Nader will join the Third Way, if he's not already a member.
In fact, the WTO just might soon be changed to stop being neutral about "human rights" and address those issues as they regulate trade. Nader, et al. will be happy.
Something you may find of interest ping!
AG, you might want to bounce the NRST off of this line of thought.
Interesting, and I think he's right on the eventual outcome, barring some gigantic increase in sales which will drive similar increases in production hiring.
There's an alternative theory now being pushed by a manufacturing-trade group out of Chicago, who is stating that demand for US-made goods will snap back in the next few years. They cite shipping costs, delivery-times, and quality issues as well as available labor supply here.
ping
This analysis is spot-on, in my opinion, based on nearly 30 years in business. As I stated in a prior thread some time ago, I never met an economist who doesn't work for a university, big utility, or the government.
If they believe their theories, why not go to the bank, put up their house as collateral, hire some people who expect to be paid on a regular basis, and start dealing with the myriad of taxes businessmen have to face?
In the past 20 years, I have been seeing the so-called middle class in this country buy more "stuff", owe more money, and lose more real net worth than I ever imagined.
One day the piper is going to have to be paid - and it ain't gonna be pretty....
This is as far as I've gotten thus far. What a thoughtful statement. It's true - the numbers often have nothing to do with how people experience economic hardship.
To the extent that it continues to be eroded, the country will become moribund.
Good Article, well written. Ping for later review.
Another good one was: "Benedict Arnold?(Outsourcing U.S. Jobs)"
This issue has the potential to be the defining agenda of the current decade.