[Willie Green]

Let's look at a few of the reasons why some U.S. corporations choose to carry their operations overseas. Much of it can be summed up in a phrase: less predatory government and the absence of tort-lawyer extortion....
Free trade helps make those costs explicit. American workers are just about the most productive in the world -- however, our government and legal establishment have reduced that productive advantage.
It'd make far more sense for Americans to start attacking the real sources that have contributed to making foreign operations more attractive to those at home.

Looks like Walter Williams is making a flacid attempt becoming a conservative. Unfortunately, he's been an enabler of those who would tyranously remove trade restrictions while leaving burdonsome domestic conditions intact.

Tort reform? Fine, I'm all for it. And I was for it BEFORE NAFTA was enacted. I don't need a wanker like Walter Williams to tell me that we need tort reform. IMHO, Walter fell flat on his face by not insisting that this and other reforms take place PRIOR to undermining our industrial infrastructure. The heck with the moron.

[ARCADIA]

Free trade helps make those costs explicit. American workers are just about the most productive in the world -- however, our government and legal establishment have reduced that productive advantage.

This is so wrong it is intellectually disgusting. Free trade serves to hide the true cost of a bad policy. If our economy were self contained everyone of us would immediately feel the cost of frivolous litigation. We would see prices rise within days of the passage of every overbearing piece of legislation. We would be forced to reform and streamline our society if we wanted to maximize our collective benefit.

Our’s is a society where you can destroy our industrial base, pass reckless legislation, unleash hordes of predatory scum, and seemingly do so while becoming ever more efficient and productive. Our entire economy is a fraud, a thin facade behind which a select few can enrich themselves on the festering carcass of a once great economy.