Stop trading U.S. jobs away

New York Daily News ^ | May 25, 2003 | Lou Dobbs

[maui_hawaii]

Cheaper is the only thing people use to justify trade. Its not good enough for me. There are other factors.

Check out my posts above.

[maui_hawaii]

How many hours of labor should be required of the workers that produce the shoes in order for them to be able to afford those shoes?

BUMP!!!

The people who think as you described above are open ended traders/economists. Its absolutely stupid.

[maui_hawaii]

There is no such thing as a level playing field.

Some fields are much more level than others.

[Duramaximus]

"And can anyone tell me exactly WHO is benefitting HOW from NAFTA, etc.?"

I suspect the same people who realize financial gains from allowing an unimpeded flow of illegal aliens across our border with Mexico.

[Prodigal Son]

Hmmm. Ok, walkingman. Well, we get back to the Rolls Royce situation. Are you saying an assembly line worker at Ferrari or Lear (whoever makes Lear Jets), or Rolls Royce should be able to buy what they produce? Are you saying that the workers in a Nike plant should be able to seize a certain amount of shoes everyday?

You have offered no model. Give me a model. Illustrate what it is you propose. You have seen my posts. You know already that I am not at a loss for words or paragraphs when it comes to trying to spell out what I mean. I ask you for the same indulgence.

Give me something to nail down... What if "3rd worlders" as you call them, refuse to raise wages in factories? What then? We'll get to tariffs when you answer that. If a third worlder agrees to certain wages per hour what right have you to interfere in that contract?

[Prodigal Son]

No, I don't walkingman. You need to spell out what you mean.

I understand just as well as you do why you are reluctant to do so.

What right do you as a consumer or worker have to my capital?

I'm really interested to know.

[A. Pole]

I'm looking for a number here... and we're just talking about your everyday pair of shoes. How many hours of labor is a fair trade for that item? Hmmm? Specifically.

Walking barefoot is good for you.

[A. Pole]

Now on top of that there is higher volume as well as higher margins in Mexico. We sell over $100 billion dollars worth of stuff to Mexico. We sell just around $15 billion to China. Yet, we import almost just as much from China as Mexico. I ask you, which one is a better trade partner? Overall it results in that with Mexico for every dollar we import for one reason or another we have a 75 cents (plus) real export opportunity. That means goods actually made in the US actually get sold in Mexico and at a profitable margin.

Interesting.

[A. Pole]

Some jobs are not worth protecting, but others are. Saving one job in the steel industry costs the country $800,000 as I've read it; that obviously is not worth doing.

Does the steel have a strategic/security importance or not any more?

[follow the money]

Wto,U.N,world bank ,imf are taking jobs out of America

[A. Pole]

Hmmm. Ok, walkingman. Well, we get back to the Rolls Royce situation. Are you saying an assembly line worker at Ferrari or Lear (whoever makes Lear Jets), or Rolls Royce should be able to buy what they produce? Are you saying that the workers in a Nike plant should be able to seize a certain amount of shoes everyday?

It depends on the local standards of what is luxury and what is a necessity. In America Rolls Royce is a luxury but shoes are necessity. In some Asian countries people still go barefoot.

[Prodigal Son]

My capital is created by the product of my mind.

I note you have not questioned my use of the term "walkingman" in reference to yourself. Why is that? How many iterations have you enjoyed at Free Republic? I ask out of curiosity. I have only ever found it necessary to post under one nom de plume.

You exist here at the leisure of others. You have openly admitted to inventing new screen names in order to post after being banned. Your posts have a distinctly Marxist bent. Can you think of any reason why I should not bust you out?

[A. Pole]

Why have the Chinese tolerated selfish, vicious rulers with no value for human life during most of their thousands of years of recorded history? This is an enigma that most Westerners don't understand, because Chinese culture is well-known for intelligent, honorable, artistic, hardworking people who greatly respect their ancestors and love their country.

I sympatise with your general argument, but to be fair, we the Westerners were not less selfish and vicious as well as our rulers. Review the history.

Hitler was a Westerner, Indians and Tasmanians were exterminated by Westerners. The most intense Chinese contact with the "benevolent" West was the Opium War by which mass drug trade was forced on China. Etc, etc ...

[maui_hawaii]

In the end we should set out several FTAs, which we already have one big one and several in the works. NAFTA isn't as bad as some think. Singapore FTA is a good deal for sure. We need a few more.

After we do that we should as a nation increase the overall corporate tax rate for those companies who operate outside of the FTAs for their core operations.

Raise their taxes in one stroke and lower taxes on those within the network in another.

That would mean companies who pour money into China will have a 45% corporate tax rate and ones operating in Mexico will have a 15% tax rate. That kind of policy will actually create marketshare for US companies as well as serve as a strong US foreign policy tool.