Posted on 10/04/2010 5:25:10 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Just when you thought Congress couldn't possibly do more damage to the battered economy the House of Representatives, in a bipartisan act of impotent fury, voted 348-79 to light the fuse of a global trade war.
Not since Herbert Hoover and Franklin Roosevelt tag teamed to turn a cyclic recession into the Great Depression have Democrats and Republicans jointly indulged in such destructive economic legislation.
Congress is upset that China has pegged its currency to the dollar, as do many countries seeking monetary stability, not allowing it to appreciate as Uncle Sam prints up trillions. So the House passed the Currency Reform for Fair Trade Act, amending the Tariff Act of 1930 to empower the administration to selectively slap harsh punitive duties on goods imported from any country whose currency can't buy enough bushel baskets of greenbacks.
Designed to show voters they are tough on China, many of our elected leaders apparently believe that doubling the price of every item at Wal-Mart is somehow going to help the poor and unemployed. While we're at it, let's take the only country where General Motors is generating serious profits and provoke them into kicking the company out because Congress refuses to let Americans buy cheap underwear. And then, let's encourage our European allies to start a beggar-thy-neighbor depreciation spiral to see who can make their fiat currency lose value the fastest.
Yes, Congress is demanding a return to Carter inflation - the most effective way to increase taxes on everyone without getting blamed. Is it any wonder why gold spiked to over $1,300 an ounce?
When the original Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act passed in 1930 international trade plunged by 60% as retaliatory tariffs sprang up everywhere.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearmarkets.com ...
Abolish the WTO and cut corporate taxes to zero for manufacturing.
Might not turn out the same this time around.
Now.... We are the consumer, and THEY are the producers, unlike the 1930s. The other countries in this case probably have more to lose than we do.
I had a discussion with a liberal co-worker today, and we were talking about our relationship with another department in our institution.
I told him that there is history with those folks (generally not positive) we have to be aware of it and not only take it into account, but work constantly to overcome it and turn them into allies.
He grimaced, and said “We should just forget the past and move forward...”
I said: “That is the difference between you and I, and conservatism and liberalism in general. Liberals want to forget the past and pretend it doesn’t exist and everything can be a fresh start. Conservatives understand that history has meaning, and must be taken into account in all of our actions.”
and who knows ... maybe WE may have the same “solutions” that THEY did last time.
“Never let a good crisis go to waste.”
As far as the demoncrats are concerned it worked before, it will work again.
RE: We are the consumer, and THEY are the producers, unlike the 1930s. The other countries in this case probably have more to lose than we do.
Well that’s very comforting to know... two warriors fight each other, one warrior loses one hand and one leg while the other loses one hand and two legs.
The first warrior smiles in triumph -— I WIN, he he lost more than I did !!
It’s a different world than it was in the 1930’s. We don’t manufacture anything anymore!
Another outdated play from the Roosevelt playbook! They call Republicans and Conservatives stupid. They should look in the damn mirror.
“Might not turn out the same this time around.”
That’s a really interesting point.
Yes, it may raise price of underwear and other stuff but it will also spur some companies to make good investments and hire more people.
Tell him, “Those who forget the past are condemned to repeat it!”
No, it will make a bad situation worse and have a devastating effect on our economy, striking the poor especially harshly.
I am not being sarcastic or facetious.
“No, it will make a bad situation worse and have a devastating effect on our economy”
Was it a negative for all the countries in the 30’s? That seems hard to believe that there wouldn’t have been some who came out ahead.
When you find a country that benefited, ping me.
Trade, free trade in the sense that there’s no compulsion, always implies a benefit or improvement to the participants.
All these tariffs and trade wars do is benefit political entrepreneurs while harming consumers (some of which are businesses, too).
Take a look at the U.S. sugar tariff. Who does it benefit?
Now multiply that across thousands of products and industries and across millions of consumers. When Obama shut down Gulf oil drilling who benefited?
This is the same thing only called tariffs or trade wars.
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