Read the Beforeitsnews.com story here. Advertise at Before It's News here.
Profile image
By Global Macro Monitor
Contributor profile | More stories
Story Views
Now:
Last hour:
Last 24 hours:
Total:

The Case for Free Trade

% of readers think this story is Fact. Add your two cents.


The Marxists and Socialists are winning the day, folks.   Sorry, simpleton buzzwords are all the rage today.

The escalation of the trade war is bad, bad, bad news and could if we are not careful, end in a shooting war.   Many argue that one of the main factors that motivated Japan to bomb Pearl Harbor was the U.S. cutting off trade, mainly in airplane parts and aviation fuel, with good reason, however, as imperial Japan was running rampant throughout Asia.

No, we’re not suggesting war is imminent but we admonish you to study history.

A potential  Thucydides Trap supersedes all the bluster and posturing and goes way beyond just trade.

China: Guilty On Some Charges

Yes, China has been a bad actor in many areas, intellectual property theft, being stingy in further opening its markets, among others, and these need to be addressed in a multilateral framework with the heft and support from our allies, who are with us.   This mess could have been wrapped up long ago and U.S. farmers would be in much better shape.   Kudos for POTUS for finally taking them on, however.

China making quality and cheaper products that Americans prefer over more expensive American brands,  guilty?  Using tariffs to address the former?  Totally absurd.

Make China pay for its sins through other means, not by higher prices and taxes on the American consumer or U.S. farmers and businesses.

Moreover, we totally reject the “Art of the Deal” bullshit.

There is no plan, no method in this madness.  The negotiation from the U.S. side is all impulse, based on economic ignorance and steeped in a very dangerous nationalism at the top, vacillates from tweet to tweet, and our negotiating team is conflicted with a deep seeded dialectic between the hardliners and doves.

Karl And Tariff Man

Check out the date on this thing.  What happened on February 23, 1848?

Look it up.

Hat Tip:  Deep Fake Anachronisms

A spectre is haunting the world — the spectre of protectionism.   The world is going be much poorer.

Tariff Man has no clue and seems to share the same philosophy as Karl about free trade.

Who’s your Socialist, now?  Protectionist policies are socialism.

The Case For Free Trade

Take a pair of blue jeans made in the U.S., for example.  It could cost up to $80 per pair (hypothetical price).   Not only would it increase inflation, but there would also be almost no consumption and zero production because most middle-class consumers could not afford them.  Trading and exchange in blue jeans would cease to exist.

At best, very few new jobs created and many old jobs lost.

Sorry, folks.  When I go to Costco or Walmart and purchase a BBQ for $200 less than the American made version in the next aisle,  I don’t consider that as “an act of war” perpetrated by China on America nor our workers.

Furthermore, I certainly don’t feel unpatriotic.  I am a proud flag-waving, card-carrying compassionate American capitalist.

In fact, that very purchase of the cheaper imported Chinese good increases my real income by $200 that I can now spend at the local restaurant, give the waitress a bigger tip, and get my car that needed tune up, all, of which expand economic growth and creates additional jobs.

Trade Adjustment Assitance 

Absolutely, the U.S. manufacturer and its workers of the American made BBQ have been hurt by Chinese competition.  No question.

That $200 I saved, however, part of what economists call the “gains from trade”,  should include a small fee, tax, or whatever euphemism Grover Norquist will accept, to fund a program to help those workers hurt because of my free choice of buying the Chinese product.  Remember “Free to Choose?”

We have been all over the case to expand the Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program, which has an annual budget of approximately $600 million to help those displaced by free trade.   That is an outrage as much as it is stupid, and one of the reasons why we are in such a political mess and the world teeters on the brink.

Moreover, Trump paid $12 billion to pacify U.S. farmers as China targeted soybean imports as retaliation in his trade war.   Now there are reports that POTUS is considering purchasing an additional $15 billion in farm products as China will almost surely retaliate against the new tariff hike.

That $27 billion is almost 50 years of the TAA program.  Don’t you think that would have better spent on helping the displaced workers from trade in the first place?  The U.S. and the world would be growing at a faster clip and all of its workers would be much better off.

Yes, the opening of China was big and U.S. policymakers reaped the gains and were ill-prepared and ignored the costs of the new Chimerica.   China’s not going away, folks.

The Price of Gas And Free Trade

Why is it when the price of gasoline declines we are all happy, are real incomes rise, and feel better off yet we have no worries or consideration for the oil roughnecks in Midland, Texas of the workers in the small towns in, say,  North Dakota who are devastated by the fall in oil prices?

Could it is because there is no foreigner to blame?

We are beginning to buy into the argument we all are hardwired genetically and predisposed to fear and blame those who are “different” or foreigners for our problems, a consequence of spending 95 percent of all human existence on the savannah fleeing the “different.”   Robert Sapolsky, the Stanford professor, writes,

We need to train our prefrontal cortex to control the impulses of our amygdala.   Try using that in a campaign stump speech.

The Fork In The Road

Socialism has won the day, at least for today.   Governments are trying to control and manipulate the preferences of individual consumers in the name of, whatever.

This is really the pushback from unfettered capitalism, not giving a rats ass about the workers hurt by free trade and underfunding programs such as  Trade Adjustment Assistance.   If this escalates the whole world is going to be a much poorer and a significantly more dangerous place to live.

The complacency is stunning.  The classic boiling frog syndrome.

There you have it, folks, our rant for the weekend.   Take it or leave it but it is our firm conviction that may or may not become a reality.  Even if it does, many will claim an alternative reality or excuse for the mess that has become.

BTFD.


Source: https://global-macro-monitor.com/2019/05/11/the-case-for-free-trade/


Before It’s News® is a community of individuals who report on what’s going on around them, from all around the world.

Anyone can join.
Anyone can contribute.
Anyone can become informed about their world.

"United We Stand" Click Here To Create Your Personal Citizen Journalist Account Today, Be Sure To Invite Your Friends.

Please Help Support BeforeitsNews by trying our Natural Health Products below!


Order by Phone at 888-809-8385 or online at https://mitocopper.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomic.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST

Order by Phone at 866-388-7003 or online at https://www.herbanomics.com M - F 9am to 5pm EST


Humic & Fulvic Trace Minerals Complex - Nature's most important supplement! Vivid Dreams again!

HNEX HydroNano EXtracellular Water - Improve immune system health and reduce inflammation.

Ultimate Clinical Potency Curcumin - Natural pain relief, reduce inflammation and so much more.

MitoCopper - Bioavailable Copper destroys pathogens and gives you more energy. (See Blood Video)

Oxy Powder - Natural Colon Cleanser!  Cleans out toxic buildup with oxygen!

Nascent Iodine - Promotes detoxification, mental focus and thyroid health.

Smart Meter Cover -  Reduces Smart Meter radiation by 96%! (See Video).

Report abuse

    Comments

    Your Comments
    Question   Razz  Sad   Evil  Exclaim  Smile  Redface  Biggrin  Surprised  Eek   Confused   Cool  LOL   Mad   Twisted  Rolleyes   Wink  Idea  Arrow  Neutral  Cry   Mr. Green

    MOST RECENT
    Load more ...

    SignUp

    Login

    Newsletter

    Email this story
    Email this story

    If you really want to ban this commenter, please write down the reason:

    If you really want to disable all recommended stories, click on OK button. After that, you will be redirect to your options page.