Posted on 05/25/2003 1:23:39 AM PDT by sarcasm
IMHO, the people here who think I should pay more for socks and shoes by barring imports, so that I subsidize the local workers making socks and shoes, are closet socialists.
Let the market decide.
That is a bogus and worn-out argument, just like the "buggy-whip" analogy from the movie Other People's Money.
In order for imported finished goods to benefit our overall economy, the retail price of the imported goods would have to be less than ten cents on the dollar of those same goods produced here, due to the lost multiplier effect on the imported goods.
That means a $50 pair of imported boots would have to cost over $500 retail for the domestically produced version before any positive economic benefit could be realized from the import.
It is disgusting that some of our most respected economists have bought into the free trade lie and are ignoring the economic rule that "second effects count".
We could slap a $450 tariff on imported boots without negative effect on our economy?
Response: The politicians can't stop. The balance is shifting to alien control. This has been a process and we are passed that point where it could be stopped. Any politician who now tried to stop it would simply not be allowed to hold office. Within about ten years one will begin to see serious attempts by various states(those under alien control) to secede. In the short the disintegration of the republic.
Fair trade, according to Adam Smith, wouldn't require a $450 dollar tariff on the boots, or other imported finished products. The tariff required to achieve trade equilibrium would only need to be the difference between the cost of production between the imported and domestically produced item. This would discourage the use of slave labor by one country to wage economic warfare on another country, which is precisely what is happening to the U.S. right now, with the approval of elected politicians of both parties.
That is only a decision for the factory owner to make. Period. Whether the worker accepts this contract or not is up to him/her.
A more important question is- does a person have a right to work in the shoe factory in the first place and if not, why do they have a moral right to a certain wage?
Could you explain the difference between a tafiff on goods imported to the US and a quota on the amount a country may export here?
That sounds like a perfect self description.
Trade doesn't always equal economic growth. Sometimes it does, but other times it doesn't. I have glaring real life, real world examples.
Mexico is one of our biggest trading partners, and that is not a one way "we buy their stuff" deal. For every $1 worth of goods we buy from Mexico (either through outsourcing etc) we actually sell just over 75 cents to Mexico. That means 75 cents to the dollar of real exports.
On top of that exporting to Mexico is not about overall 'revenue numbers'. The profitablility of selling in Mexico is by far greater than China (but maybe not as good as in the US).
With Mexico we have a much more balanced approach to trade with no one factor being exploited as in the case with China.
I can go into details if you want.
Are you at all suggesting that if the worker feels his salary is not just he should seize the capital of the factory owner?
I don't want to put words in your mouth so you go ahead and explain it.
Trade with Mexico is actually (as I said above) one of the more healthy agreements we have although its not perfect.
Profitability is the game. Real revenue numbers are a different ball of wax.
For example if we sell goods in China the profit margins are very low. There is hardly anything such as a mark up in their market. So, if you make something that costs $1m to make and end up with only $1m in the end, you haven't made any money. Margins are what is on top of the $1m in the end.
In Mexico margins are MUCH higher and hence contribute much more to profits.
Now on top of that there is higher volume as well as higher margins in Mexico. We sell over $100 billion dollars worth of stuff to Mexico. We sell just around $15 billion to China. Yet, we import almost just as much from China as Mexico. I ask you, which one is a better trade partner?
Overall it results in that with Mexico for every dollar we import for one reason or another we have a 75 cents (plus) real export opportunity. That means goods actually made in the US actually get sold in Mexico and at a profitable margin.
Not all trade is bad at all, some trade relations though are unfair and not very good though. Its a case by case situation.
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