Posted on 03/08/2003 6:04:49 AM PST by George Frm Br00klyn Park
Edited on 07/12/2004 4:01:20 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
What makes you think so? I think it might be a boon for Mexican textile workers, though.
Globalists always forget that there were instances under which Adam Smith approved of tariffs. Excerpted and condensed from:
Of Restraints upon the Importation from Foreign Countries
of such Goods as can be produced at Home
"There seem, however, to be two cases in which it will generally be advantageous to lay some burden upon foreign for the encouragement of domestic industry...
As there are two cases in which it will generally be advantageous to lay some burden upon foreign for the encouragement of domestic industry, so there are two others in which it may sometimes be a matter of deliberation; in the one, how far it is proper to continue the free importation of certain foreign goods; and in the other, how far, or in what manner, it may be proper to restore that free importation after it has been for some time interrupted....
- The first is, when some particular sort of industry is necessary for the defence of the country....
- The second case, in which it will generally be advantageous to lay some burden upon foreign for the encouragement of domestic industry is, when some tax is imposed at home upon the produce of the latter. In this case, it seems reasonable that an equal tax should be imposed upon the like produce of the former....
- The case in which it may sometimes be a matter of deliberation how far it is proper to continue the free importation of certain foreign goods is, when some foreign nation restrains by high duties or prohibitions the importation of some of our manufactures into their country. Revenge in this case naturally dictates retaliation, and that we should impose the like duties and prohibitions upon the importation of some or all of their manufactures into ours....
- The case in which it may sometimes be a matter of deliberation, how far, or in what manner, it is proper to restore the free importation of foreign goods, after it has been for some time interrupted, is, when particular manufactures, by means of high duties or prohibitions upon all foreign goods which can come into competition with them, have been so far extended as to employ a great multitude of hands. Humanity may in this case require that the freedom of trade should be restored only by slow gradations, and with a good deal of reserve and circumspection. Were those high duties and prohibitions taken away all at once, cheaper foreign goods of the same kind might be poured so fast into the home market as to deprive all at once many thousands of our people of their ordinary employment and means of subsistence. The disorder which this would occasion might no doubt be very considerable....
China gets most of its oil from the Middle East. I dont think they want to cut us off from our shirts and jeans or they wont have the power to run their industry. I mean after all, how many aircraft carriers does China have in total, much less stationed in the middle east. I believe we have six carrier taskforces there now. No one thats selling us goods is going to care enough about Iraq to cut off their own economic growth, not even the French.
I have been saying that for years. That is precisely why this Globalist crap is a threat to our national security and our national independence. clinton's boom would have been an inflationary disaster, except that he was able to export jobs to "mask" the inflation with low cost 3rd world labor. The clinton boom was a very short run "success" with serious long run implications. Now, the Chinese have us by the cajones. All they have to do is jerk a little, and they will control our pleasure seeking "economic studs." Rather than enduring a normal economic adjustment, clinton led the nation to the choice of surrendering their national independence or suffering through a prolonged depression. He knew that the pleasure seekers will choose the first, which is why I believe clinton is a traitor.
But I really feel for the poor sods in Charlotte (whence BofA had centralized it's IT operations), they will have to dump everything and go someplace where there are jobs.
BTW - IT = Information Technology
That's true, mainly because companies don't pay dividends any more. The best way for shareholders not to have to worry about what the company does with it's profits (or trust that those profits even exist) is if a significant share of those profits are in the shareholders' pockets. One of the most bizarre rationalizations of the recent bubble was the idea that dividends don't matter any more.
To paraphrase Satchel Paige, take a long nap (or exercise) until that thought goes away. :-)
As always, it will come from capitalism and risk taking in the form of new companies and new markets. But as you have demonstrated with your post, such things have been villified to the point that we'll have to look toward farmers, trucking, construction companies, and government for our economic growth. At least those are the sectors that the president highlights in his economic speeches.
That's actually a bit of a myth in my experience. I hire two programmers, one here in the US and one in South America. Both are incredibly talented, however the one from the US, who costs me *MUCH* more than the one in South America, has this little thing called the "traditional American work ethic". You would not believe the difference that makes. Not only do I plan on keeping my US programmer, but I look forward to the day I can provide him with his next raise and better benefits.
The American culture is in perfect harmony with our very technical environment, and the benefits of that cannot be underestimated. If other companies are moving their software dev offshore they are, as they say, "penny wise and pound foolish".
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