We’re benefiting from exports to a degree we never did back then. The idea of getting into a tit-for-tat tariff war will hurt the stock market as much as it does consumers’ wallets and the real economy.
“U.S. exports in 2013 supported 11.3 million jobs, an increase of 1.6 million export-supported jobs since 2009.”
The end game is always what brings consumers better products at lower prices. There is no reason for anyone to do a job if it doesn’t deliver that result. The name of the game is competition. Competing with the world creates more innovation and efficiency than just competing within the U.S.
“I don’t want things to change because I want to keep my job” has never been an argument that’s been worthwhile. Our standard of living has advanced because of the creative destruction that comes from letting the consumer choose to buy their products from a better company without a bureaucrat punishing them for it, driving the bad company out of business.
Putting American businesses out of work for reasons having nothing to do with their inherent competitiveness is not “competition.” It is economic warfare, and it’s time we played.
And if Americans are so much better off, why have wages, I comes, household wealth, or almost ANY metric of economic health show that Americans are falling further behind?