[sixmil]

Without fail on these threads, someone comes out and says something like 'we win big in the end when we declare bankruptcy'. Is this a plank in the free trade ideology? If so, I suggest you head back to the drawing board.

[Moonman62]

Without fail on these threads, someone comes out and says something like 'we win big in the end when we declare bankruptcy'.

I'm not saying that at all, but it's the increased likelihood of not being paid back that makes lenders tighten credit.

[incubus]

We have been a service based economy for decades. Manufacturing has been going overseas as it naturally will do to the cheapest labor costs. What really counts is PRODUCTIVITY. We are the most efficient and stable economy in the world and thanks to the minimal role of government in the private sector we will continue to be so. Therfore foreign investment will continue to strong.

[sixmil]

Actually, I should just add this to my list of things you need to believe in order to believe in free trade:

1. Free trade wins big in the end by declaring bankruptcy!?
2. Workers are better off with low wages
3. The price of a good or service has nothing to do with supply and demand. Price is determined by how much it costs to produce the good or service
4. Dollars overseas are simply pieces of paper with no value, unless we are talking about the trade balance, then they can be used as foreign 'investment'
5. The savings from buying foreign goods is passed directly to the consumer
6. The price of labor is not determined by supply and demand
7. Running a deficit with your grocer is the same thing as running a deficit with China (nanoeconomics)
8. Money coming in from international tourists is good, losing tourist dollars is bad - this does not apply to trade, the grocer argument is a better analogy
9. There is a shortage of workers in America
10. We are near full employment