What is the percentage of the manufacturing labor force in a union?
You’re completely missing my point:
Trade protectionists HAVE THE SAME PRINCIPLES OF LABOR UNIONS. Get it? I’m drawing a parallel: Both want to use FORCE to control the FREE market. Unions by their peer pressure and thuggery and protectionist by FORCED tariffs.
True, LABOR UNIONS can be somewhat regionally successful in using their “collective” power to raise wages in localized economies — BUT UNFORTUNATELY TRADE PROTECTIONISTS have very little ability to prop up wages and prices for American goods BECAUSE THIS IS A GLOBAL ECONOMY. Tariffs just don’t work.
Until Americans vow to not buy ANY foreign-made products (UNLIKELY), we are subject to healthy global competitive forces. Yes, that means lower wages and lower prices for American goods unless we innovate faster than them.
Wake up and smell the coffee. Simple economic forces are not difficult to understand.