True free market copmpetition does work wonders when both parties are playing pretty much on the same ground and from the same "free" perspective. The so-called "Free Trade" we are conducting with China is decidedly not the case. They plan to bury us and we are fueling their drive to do it.
In that competition, the net result is not spilled oil, less longevity of a product or something that doesn't produce quite as good fidelity sound...no, that competition is ultimately barterd in lives and blood, lots of lives and blood.
"True free market competition does work wonders when both parties are playing pretty much on the same ground and from the same "free" perspective. The so-called "Free Trade" we are conducting with China is decidedly not the case. They plan to bury us and we are fueling their drive to do it."
If China or any other country feels that they can "win" by subsidies or fixed conversion rate, I'd argue that protectionist policies (such as subsidies) will ultimately make you less competitive in the marketplace, because the subsidies will be pulled sooner or later.
The goal of a competition is to win - at the expense of your competitor. The Chinese are gunning for us because that's what they're supposed to do - compete. And we've already half buried ourselves through ridicious socialist policies.
In 1907, a 19 year boy named Jim Casey borrowed $100 to start a message delivery business. He worked hard and hired local kids to make deliveries on foot or bicycle. By offering lower prices and adding services (food delivery), the company grew over its competition and later became UPS.
Today if a 19 year old wants to start a delivery business in San Francisco, he'd have to pay $8.62/hr minimum wage to hire some kid just to deliver a $10 pizza down the street:
http://www.sfgov.org/site/mayor_page.asp?id=28520
We could ban trade with China today and it wouldn't do a bit of good in making us more competitive. The jobs will simply shift from China to Vietnam or elsewhere. The only way to "win" is to excel above our competition. So far all I've seen are losers who are afraid to admit that they're overpaid and need to update their job skills.