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To: hedgetrimmer
Free trade would be the first victim of fascist economics. Fascism viewed the economy as the servant of the Volk not as a private affair. Free traders understand that it works best when left in private hands and maximizes the wealth of nations. Tariffs distort the allocation of economic resources leading to lower production than with allocations derived from Free Trade responding to the market.

Only a fool believes nations are truly isolated from each other. They are not, each is a part of a world economy and a world market. This is why trade develops as the division of labor and comparative advantage allows the creation of much more wealth than mercantilistic policies. Adam Smith figured this out over two hundred years ago but it has not been figured out by you. Drought in Russia will affect grain prices here. Floods in the US will affect grain prices in Russia. Examples of the same can be provided ad infinitum. Our economy began as part of the British Empire and dependent upon that. Hamilton developed policies which would take us away from that dependent using the tariff as a tool to help correct the distortions created by Imperial trade policies. But that was a special case not an example for a mature economy, the world's leading economy.

Look at a nation which is as close to an autarky as can be, North Korea, that policy of isolation is working out well for it, don't you think? There is little, if any, "slave" labor in China. Low wages does not mean slave labor but only a non-productive and weakly capitalized economy. Mature economies spin off jobs to the weak ones mainly because costs are too high in the former to produce many products. There are certain products which American workers will never again produce because not enough income to pay their wages can be produced. This is the result of the Export Cycle and is a good thing. Americans produce new and difficult to produce products requiring skilled labor, the Chinese produce older, standardized products which are simple to produce requiring unskilled labor. You are looking at two different labor forces capable of different things. Free trade allows that difference to work to everyone's advantage. It is the lower classes in the US which benefit most from production in China since that allows the poor to afford better clothing and goods than they could obtain with US products. We lead the world in high technology creation and agriculture as well as the creation of new goods and processes. Tariff walls help put an end to that creativity because they protect industries from competition which means they stagnate. But that is a moot point since the tariff is as dead as the Gold Standard and can never be counted on to fund anything. Look at what happens during a major war. No trade, no tariff revenue.

198 posted on 06/01/2011 7:10:12 PM PDT by arrogantsob
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To: arrogantsob

China and NK are kinda similar. Both very protectionist, however.. China is a most favored trade country.

We don’t try to import from NK.

You can’t compare them based on that alone.

Yes, it’s political on both. China takes advantage of us sending work there. With NK, we don’t and they can’t.


200 posted on 06/01/2011 7:14:23 PM PDT by Tolsti2
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To: arrogantsob

Total free traitor globaloney.

What is the Volk? Your people?


206 posted on 06/01/2011 9:00:29 PM PDT by hedgetrimmer
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