Posted on 12/29/2010 6:13:39 PM PST by BfloGuy
Last summer, I purchased a 2010 LS 460 Lexus, through a U.S. intermediary, from a Japanese producer for $70,000.
Here's my question to you: Was that a fair trade?
I was free to keep my $70,000 or purchase the car. The Japanese producer was free to keep his Lexus or sell me the car.
As it turned out, I gave up my $70,000 and took possession of the car, and the Japanese producer gave up possession of the car and took possession of my money.
The exchange occurred because I saw myself as being better off and so did the Japanese producer.
I think it was both free and fair trade, and I'd like an American mercantilist to explain to me how it wasn't.
Mercantilists have absolutely no argument when we recognize that trade is mostly between individuals.
Mercantilists pretend that trade occurs between nations, such as the U.S. trading with England or Japan, to appeal to our jingoism.
(Excerpt) Read more at investors.com ...
Free trade doesn't increase the dollars in circulation, and therefore cannot 'ruin the dollar'. The dollars acceptance in world trade actually accrues value to the dollar that otherwise wouldn't exist.
A profligate Federal government is ruining the dollar, but some people see the symptoms of that and blame trade itself instead of the manipulators of the currency...
You would have to shrink FedGov™ pretty good then. I like it.
You're going to run the entire federal government on 26 billion dollars? Because that's how much they collected last year in duties.
Dont’ worry.
Your socialist pals in Washington will continute to destroy America then blame Economic Liberty for it.
They will then detroy all liberty in the name of the Average Man.
The only insanity is to continue stupid socialist policies that have failed everywhere longterm.
Benedict Arnolds are the trade unions and all their socialist buddies.
I doubt it. Agriculture is the one thing the Free Traders haven't totally f'ed up yet. But they are working on it.
This is a strawman. Nobody is suggesting erecting trade barriers to protect unions. We are talking about targeted tariffs to protect non-union manufacturing only.
Having said that, shipping entire factories so Communist slaves can work for almost nothing in the Socialist Utopia of China is supporting your Socialist buddies.
You're in good company then, because there isn't a major player in the NY-Washington power and pundit scene that isn't a free trade advocate.
Imagine how little trouble they could cause with less than 1% of the current budget?
We have 50 State governments, several with budgets larger than that, so we won't run out of things for bureaucrats to do - fear not.
Japan has, for instance, 5 strong independent car companies. How many do we have?
All freedoms have associated responsibility. If the guy wants to indulge a little, more power to him. But taxpayers are on the hook for the pension plans of the union guys here who didn't get that work. There is also the SS ponzi scheme that is already in the red this year. Then there is the problem of his fellow American taxpayers who are on the hook for all of that. When they are thrown out of work because he decides to buy end-use goods abroad, then the remaining taxpayers have to pay more.
Conversely, anyone who proposes government-run trade restrictions needs to realize that the U.S. production market needs free trade to be competitive, we simply cannot make all the inputs the cheapest, but we can add the most value in many cases. So cutting off trade in some political manner is a very bad idea.
Bottom line is that personal responsibility can't be legislated, hopefully the author will figure out himself someday.
Do you think the US manufactures more or less than it did 10 years ago?
The emperor has been naked for 20+years and many here kept their eyes closed..it is only now when the reality is hitting home that 3rd world countries with a 5 cent an hour wage have engineers,accountants, lawyers, etc that can do their jobs as well, that now the reality is starting to hit home.
We no longer make steel, our auto plants and airplanes and some defense equipment is moving overseas.. we could not fight world war II today .. no plants to convert, no steel to build with .. and fewer and fewer skilled tradesmen ... a world blockade would find Americans dying without their meds.. hungry without the foreign foods and empty superstores and Best buys.. We do not make anything anymore..
This is Bush Sr. new world order.. how do we like it??
When someone starts talking about a 99% cut of government, you know they're not actually interested in a serious discussion.
I like the idea a lot.
The US government wasn't that small in proportion on day 2 after Providence Plantations and Rhode Island's ratification. Can we at least keep the conversation grounded to reality?
I like the idea a lot.
You know the world is backwards when giving 536 people authority to spend $3,400,000,000,000.00 isn’t just jibberish coming from the loony bin.
There’s a lot of room between 26 billion and 3.4 trillion, now isn’t there? No need to be disingenuous about it.
I'm sure there's a forum out there that caters to those of you wanting to see the dissolution of the nation. But this isn't it.
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