Free Republic

Last week President Bush repealed the tariffs on steel imports that his administration put in place two years ago. Democratic candidate for President Howard Dean called the move, "another example of this administration playing politics with people’s lives." Several of the other Democratic candidates also strongly criticized the repeal and predicted negative economic and social effects. Some conservatives like Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) also registered their concern. In our July/August 1998 issue, Ramesh Ponnuru deflates Pat Buchanan’s arguments in favor of such protectionist policies. The Holes in Buchananomics It’s not Pat Buchanan’s fault his new book, The Great Betrayal: How...

•NAFTA has been a huge success for the U.S. and its NAFTA partners. It has helped Americans work smarter, earn more and increase purchasing power. It has contributed to more trade, higher productivity, better jobs, and higher wages. •In ten years of NAFTA, total trade among the three countries has more than doubled, from $306 billion to $621 billion in 2003. That’s $1.7 billion in trade every day. •U.S. exports to Canada and Mexico grew from $142 billion to $263 billion in NAFTA’s first ten years. And Mexican exports to the U.S. grew 242 percent, improving lives and reducing poverty...

<p>CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico - Just across the U.S. border from El Paso, paved roads give way to winding dirt paths, flooded from the heavy rains Wednesday night.</p> <p>Tiny shacks, some made of cement and others a hodgepodge of tarp, wood, and cardboard make up the entire area of Anapra. People who live in the dark one-room shanties work in maquiladoras, or manufacturing plants, but say they can´t afford the $400 a year to send their children to school.</p>

If you're looking for the causes of the nation's steady loss of manufacturing jobs, our trade imbalance with China and other countries should not top the list, the director of the Congressional Budget Office said Friday. Former Syracuse University economics professor Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who has directed Congress's budget office since February, said most of the factory job losses the nation has been suffering have been caused by productivity growth, not the exporting of jobs overseas. "We're producing more," he said during a visit to SU. "We're just doing it with fewer people." Manufacturing job losses have been getting a lot...

Walking the dogs forces me to think. My dogs are not the brightest lights in New Hampshire and, although lovable, are not the best conversationalists. So, I talk to the tape recorder and try to put down subversive thoughts. The latest rant was stimulated by a national business magazine that needed an op-ed opinion about manufacturing jobs leaving North America. I made the assumption that the knee-jerk response of unfair competition was wrong. This position was artificial to start with, and was developed just to debate the issues. I took the position that we here in Canada and the 48...

<p>CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) -- Venezuela declared war on Friday against what it called an unfair world trade system and urged developing nations not to subscribe to any new agreements at upcoming global trade talks next week.</p> <p>The world's No. 5 oil exporter made clear it would take an aggressive stance at September 10-14 World Trade Organization negotiations in Cancun, Mexico, which aim to lower barriers to world trade. Venezuela's chief trade negotiator Victor Alvarez said the world's poorest countries had only a tiny share of world exports, which were hogged by rich nations: "It's clear who are the winners and losers of today's world trade system."</p>

GENEVA (AP) - U.S. workers are the world's most productive, but they put in more hours than Europeans to score higher, according to a study released Monday by the United Nations labor agency. Workers in France, Belgium and Norway beat the Americans in productivity per hour, the International Labor Organization said in its new issue of Key Indicators of the Labor Market. The output per U.S. worker last year was $60,728, the report said. Belgium, the highest-scoring European Union member, had an output of $54,333 per worker. ``Part of the difference in output per worker was due to the fact...

<p>Back in 1995, right in the middle of a nine-year economic boom, Louis Uchitelle co-authored an absurdly downbeat series of New York Times articles on "The Downsizing of America." That series was full of opinion polls, as though popular illusions could substitute for facts. More recently, there has been hope that scandals at the New York Times might have given new editors at least a casual interest in factual accuracy. Apparently not. A couple of weeks ago, the unrepentant Mr. Uchitelle wrote yet another weirdly apocalyptic piece claiming, that "manufacturing is slowly disappearing in the United States."</p>

In a recent column, I argued that the manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy is in relatively good shape, despite the sharp decline in manufacturing employment. I clearly touched a nerve with this column. Not only did I receive a great many e-mails, but my fellow columnist and mentor Paul Craig Roberts took me to task as well. I can't respond to everything I heard, but following is a response to the most frequent criticisms. One common complaint is that U.S. companies are simply reselling goods actually manufactured in China. This is just a misunderstanding of how the gross domestic...

When I was learning economics, almost all economists agreed that trade was a good thing. Without it, economies were constrained to produce only what the capabilities of their workers and the technology they had available would allow. By engaging in exchange, new products become available. But what if everyone produced the same things but had different skills and technology? The rules of comparative advantage said exchange still was mutually beneficial. Releasing the doctor from also making the household meals meant that more people received medicine and more resources were available to make meals. Furthermore, no one would engage in exchange...

Below are some of the most frequently asked questions about globalization and free trade. CTPS scholars have answered these questions and have provided links to related works that provide more in-depth analysis of the subject matter.Have other questions about globalization and free trade? Submit your questions to our trade scholars here. Select questions will be answered by a Center for Trade Policy Studies scholar and will be posted below. Does free trade lead to a “race to the bottom” in workers’ rights in less developed countries? What are the benefits of free trade for the average person?Does globalization give...

Trade Briefing Paper No. 14 March 1, 2002 Steel Trap:How Subsidies and Protectionism Weaken the U.S. Steel Industry by Daniel Ikenson Daniel Ikenson is a policy analyst at Cato's Center for Trade Policy Studies. Executive SummaryOn March 6, President Bush is expected to announce specific Section 201 measures to further protect the domestic steel industry from import competition. By any relevant economic measure, the costs of protection will far exceed the benefits, and any benefits accruing to steel firms from that protection will be fleeting. Section 201 relief for steel producers could invite WTO-legal retaliation against other U.S. export sectors, undermine...

<p>Trade with China is becoming a hot topic, as U.S. politicians in both parties deplore a $103 billion bilateral trade deficit that is growing by about 25% a year. Before things get carried away, we'd like to put a few facts on the table that show just how much China trade helps the U.S.</p>

A Nation of Hamburger Flippers? No. Manufacturing output is very healthy. Everybody seems to be worried about manufacturing these days. All the Democratic presidential candidates condemn the practice of “outsourcing” — laying off manufacturing workers and buying their output more cheaply from China. This is not surprising, given that organized labor has made it a high-priority issue. But they are being joined by some on the right-wing fringe as well, such as Pat Buchanan and Paul Craig Roberts, who warn that we are exporting our sovereignty along with our jobs. They all seem to think that more trade protection is...

<p>Everybody seems to be worried about manufacturing these days. All the Democratic presidential candidates condemn the practice of "outsourcing" — laying off manufacturing workers and buying their output more cheaply from China. This is not surprising, given that organized labor has made it a high-priority issue. But they are being joined by some on the far right as well, such as Pat Buchanan and Paul Craig Roberts, who warn we are exporting our sovereignty along with our jobs. They all seem to think that more trade protection is the answer.</p>

The manufacturing sector in America is the foundation on which much of the rest of our economy is built. U.S. Census Bureau statistics reflect that fact. Manufacturing generates 16 percent of gross domestic product and directly employs 18 million Americans, 14 percent of all workers. What these statistics do not capture, however, is the extent to which manufacturing drives the rest of the economy. Much is made of the rise of the service sector over the last 20 years. It is an area of undeniable strength and competitive advantage in the U.S. economy. But we should not overlook the fact...

For education and discussion only. Not for commercial use.WASHINGTON – A little more than a year ago, after a long legislative struggle, Congress passed the most sweeping international trade legislation in 15 years. After a nearly decade-long deadlock, Congress gave the president authority to negotiate new trade agreements. And just before this summer's recess, Congress overwhelmingly passed the first fruits of that authority: new free-trade agreements with Chile and Singapore. Unfortunately, implementation of the assistance for workers who lose their jobs because of international trade has not been as swift. If the displaced worker-adjustment provisions are not in place soon,...

Local manufacturers new voice of small firms on trade issues Rich Rovito Jerald Skoff recites a quote from Chinese war strategist Sun Tzu, written 2,000 years ago, when describing the condition of manufacturing in the United States. "Undermine, subvert, deceive and corrupt the enemy and sow discord among his leaders, and you will destroy the enemy without fighting him." Skoff, the chief executive officer of Badger Metal Tech Inc., Menomonee Falls, considers the quote an accurate reflection of the havoc Chinese manufacturers have wrought on U.S. companies. Suffering the most are small businesses like Badger Metal Tech, a 15-employee shop...

Concerning the Export of Capital by William L. Anderson In a recent article dealing with trade and job losses, I questioned the terminology of "exporting jobs," noting that goods are exported, not jobs, since they are not economic goods. While the points I made were technically correct, something else needs to be added to the mix, that being the importation and exportation of capital. Indeed, in the past decade, more and more U.S.-based firms have been investing in new factories overseas, and especially in places like China and other Asian countries. To put it another way, American firms have been...

HOOVER INSTITUTIONHOOVER DIGEST 1997 No. 4Milton Friedman and Rose Friedman THE CASE FOR FREE TRADE In international trade, Hoover fellow Charles Wolf Jr. argues in a previous article, deficits don't much matter. Here the Friedmans discuss what does: freedom. A ringing statement of logic and principle.It is often said that bad economic policy reflects disagreement among the experts; that if all economists gave the same advice, economic policy would be good. Economists often do disagree, but that has not been true with respect to international trade. Ever since Adam Smith there has been virtual unanimity among economists, whatever their...