[sixmil]

It's interesting that the tarrif-free traders talked us into lowering tarriffs and relying on income taxes. Now they want to make another shift on taxes. Can we admit that you were wrong in the first place before we let you blindly lead us down another path toward failure?

While we are at it, I would like to hear the comparative advantage kool-aid drinkers tell us if there are any industries at all where the US has a comparative advantage. Does national security ever fit into the picture? How about the general welfare of the nation? Do you seriously believe that Europe will accept the notion that we build better aircraft, so they should just deep six Airbus? Free trade is not about us, we have free trade. Free trade is about everyone else. They are not going to give up their sovereignty, so why should we?

And a final point, please show us where products are actually getting cheaper. What happened to all those cheap Japanese cars? The reality is that free trade allows compaines to drive down wages and increase profits. Not a bad idea unless you happen to be one of the many who have lost a job, or your livelihood now that you have to compete against the rest of the world for a job. If that is the kind of country you want to have then fine. Just don't bitch when the dems win seats with class-warfare rhetoric.

[arielb]

Korean cars are cheaper and Japanese cars are better without being too expensive.

[Thane_Banquo]

The U.S. has a comparative advantage in the manufacture of jumbo jets, arms technology, and other high-tech production.

How about the general welfare of the nation?

It is an economic fact that free trade benefits the general welfare. This is not a normative question. With free trade, the gain in value for consumers will always be greater than the loss in value to producers. It is a mathematical certainty. Any undergraduate-level Microeconomics book will show you the graphs.

Do you seriously believe that Europe will accept the notion that we build better aircraft, so they should just deep six Airbus? Free trade is not about us, we have free trade. Free trade is about everyone else. They are not going to give up their sovereignty, so why should we?

I fail to see how we give up sovereignty by lowering our tariffs. Please explain how this happens.

As for other nations, even if they don't accept free trade, we will still benefit when we lower our own tariffs.

And a final point, please show us where products are actually getting cheaper. What happened to all those cheap Japanese cars?

Most of those cheap Japanese cars are produced in the U.S. now. But at any rate, the point isn't that prices get cheaper over time with free trade (no one would want deflation anyway). The point is that they are cheaper at any given moment with free trade than they would be without it. That is extra money in the consumer's pocket to buy even more goods. And the extra domestic resources no longer devoted to car production will be allocated by the market to a usage that grants greater wealth to society.