Will trade action bring back American jobs? (It could)

But the argument that China trade has no impact on US employment is I think a very weak one.

In the first place, China doesn’t simply produce slippers, lighters and toys to sell to the US. Chinese growth is heavily capital intensive, and China produces many things that Americans produce or used to produce until quite recently – including automobiles, steel, chemicals, advanced metal products and, soon enough, aircraft. Remember also that China’s import substitution will have as big an impact on trade as export support.

Anyway it is hard for me to imagine that the explosion in US imports from China in the past decade could consist of nothing that Americans produced themselves but were already importing from other countries. If that were truly the case, wouldn’t China’s rising exports and trade surplus in the past decade be balanced wholly by declining exports and trade surpluses in other countries? US imports and the American trade deficit should have held fairly steady.

But even if I am wrong, and China and the US produce absolutely nothing in common, it is irrelevant. The claim that there can be no employment impact in the US of a contraction in Chinese trade could only be true if all trade settled only on a bilateral basis.

More than trade action is needed. Right now government at all levels in America treats business as "enemies of the people". They overregulate them and badmouth them to such a level that, even if the international playing field were leveled, few people/groups would make the sacrifice to start a business in America. Lets face it, most businesses in America were created by individuals and groups who put up their own money and time (some small business owner routinely work 60-70 hours per week). The way govenment treats these people/groups the reward is simply no longer worth the sacrifice.

I think the leftists in our society would prefer that all businesses be run by the government and that the government would be the ones to invest in the businesses they choose (government also wants to choose the leaders for those businesses). If that were to happen it would be a classic failure because government-run businesses would not have leaders with the dedication and ingenuity of those in the private sector.

Sometime this year, we taxpayers will again receive another ‘Economic Stimulus’ payment.

This is indeed a very exciting program, and I’ll explain it by
using a Q & A format:

Q. What is an ‘Economic Stimulus’ payment ?

A. It is money that the federal government will send to taxpayers.

Q.. Where will the government get this money ?

A. From taxpayers.

Q. So the government is giving me back my own money ?

A. Only a smidgen of it.

Q. What is the purpose of this payment ?

A. The plan is for you to use the money to purchase a high-definition TV set, thus stimulating the economy.

Q. But isn’t that stimulating the economy of China ?

A. Shut up!

Below is some helpful advice on how to best help the U.S. economy by spending your stimulus check wisely:

* If you spend the stimulus money at Wal-Mart, the money will go to China or Sri Lanka ...

* If you spend it on gasoline, your money will go to the Arabs.

* If you purchase a computer, it will go to India , Taiwan or China ...

* If you purchase fruit and vegetables, it will go to Mexico ,
Honduras and Guatemala ....

* If you buy an efficient car, it will go to Japan or Korea ...

* If you purchase useless stuff, it will go to Taiwan ...

* If you pay your credit cards off, or buy stock, it will go
to management bonuses and they will hide it offshore.

Instead, keep the money in America by:

1) Spending it at yard sales, or

2) Going to ball games, or

3) Spending it on prostitutes, or

4) Beer or

5) Tattoos.

(These are the only American businesses still operating in the U.S. )

Conclusion:

Go to a ball game with a tattooed prostitute that you met at a yard sale and drink beer all day !

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