[rlmorel]

Wow.

While it is true that in a legal situation where all sides observe the same rules on a level field and a good business decision makes both sides a willing party to a deal the benefits both, I would characterize the necessary approach to business dealings with China in this fashion:

If a party is being robbed, the existing situation that needs to be remedied is that someone is gaining something illegally and unfairly, and someone is losing something illegally and unfairly.

The only fair and legal resolution should be that the situation is reversed: One party gets to keep what is fairly and legally theirs (not be robbed) and one party is deprived of getting wealthy off of their ill-gotten gains.

It is really that simple. So simple all those “Excellent economists” cannot get it right.

[adorno]

It is really that simple. So simple all those “Excellent economists” cannot get it right.

You bring up an excellent point, and it's one that so-called diplomats fail to understand or talk around, or just need to complicate.

The point being that, keeping it simple is preferred over trying to be diplomatic about things, which then makes things overly-complicated. Simple matters like, stealing IP and getting rich off other people's/companies ideas, and not compensating them accordingly. That's worth at least a few hundred billion dollars a year, and that hurts the originators of the ideas and IP. It's not a matter of just trading and selling and making money. IN the long run, the theft of IP and ideas will be very hurtful to the victims, and the victims are not the Chinese in these cases.

[elpadre]

The more I hear of these intellectuals of our time the more I realize that they are not so intelligent after all. Lord help us all!!!

[Savage Beast]

The "excellent economists," the chatterati, and most of the American intelligentsia cannot comprehend two things about Donald Trump: He is of towering intelligence and puissance, and he is fundamentally benevolent.

If they could bring themselves to understand this, they would understand him.

What they cannot and do not want to believe is that their intelligence is mediocre in comparison to that of President Trump, and, though the intentions of some of them--possibly most of them--are benevolent, the mediocrity of their intelligence prevents them from understanding their limitations and the truth about Trump.