[hedgetrimmer]

Having American workers make expensive VCRs does not do us a bit of economic good.>

Why is that?

The bigger our trade deficit, the more active and powerful our economy.

The more money is flowing out of our domestic economy, and the more unstable our economy becomes.

Do you really feel like you and our economy took a loss when you bought that Chinese VCR for $25?

Yes. See my tagline.

The economy and you were improved by this purchase.

No. The accounts of the corporations that oversee international money transfers were improved. The finances of the Chinese communists were improved. Global security was harmed. United States national security was harmed.

[lonestar67]

I actually do not disagree with you potentially refusing to buy Chinese products because they are produced by slave labor and such. In fact, I think consumers should be more aware of this possibility.

I would even support more specific labelling of foreign products to indicate if they came from certain rather despotic locales within China.

I do not think free trade reduces our security. I think it tends to improve it even in the case of China. Sadly, our best chance of overcoming China is the potential collapse of their emerging economy if they tried to cut us off as many on threads such as these suggests.

Ironically, I do support the trade embargo with Cuba which is an inconsistency in my position which supports your viewpoint.

I would rather news sources print stories about the inhumanity involved in such product productions rather than deceiving the public about the dangers of a trade deficit. The more consumers resist chinese products perceived as inhumane in their source, the more pressure we put on China.