Sunday, December 11, 2016

Trump: Unilateral Free Trade is Dumb

Donald Trump this morning once again displayed his ignornace concerning trade.

In an interview broadcast this morning, he defended his effort to prevent jobs from moving from a Carrier plant in Indiana to Mexico.

Trump pushed back when “Fox News Sunday” host Chris Wallace asked, “What about the free market?”

“That's not free market when they go out and they move and they sell back into our country,” Trump responded.

“That’s the dumb market, okay? That's the dumb market.”

Trump said he is a “big free trader.”

“But it has to be fair,” he added.

“So what's happened is we have lost over a period of years, short years, 70,000 factories in this country. Chris, 70,000. I always say to people I think it's a typo. How could it be so many? Seventy thousand factories. We're being stripped of our workers. We're being -- I mean, we're being stripped of our jobs. Our good jobs are really going down, and we've got to stop it,” he said.

The man has no understanding of the Law of Comaparative Advantage nor the benefits of unilateral free trade.

 -RW

12 comments:

  1. "The man has no understanding of the Law of Comparative Advantage nor the benefits if unilateral free trade."

    Very true, and a real shame. On the other hand, unless I'm mistaken, he joins a long line of presidents and presidential candidates (including Hillary) about which the same could be said.

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  2. The article on unilateral free trade hinges purely on the one argument that other nations will follow our lead. That's the same argument that has been used when we attempt to install democratic regimes in foreign countries. A more sound argument would be that no one has a right to a job, so if a factory closes or moves, the people who work there should have a plan B ready. Making the macro argument that we are better off if a factory closes here, moves, then freely trades its goods back to us ignores the micro effects. I personally know people who are not better off because of this. Basically their standard of living is to be sacrificed so that others can enjoy a higher one. Standard of living for the government leaches should be targeted before the actual productive class. Government worker salaries should be reduced and pensions eliminated first, then we can wring our hands about unilateral free trade.

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    Replies
    1. Even if there's no chance that other nations follow your lead, unilateral free trade is still preferable to bilateral restriction. When another nation restricts its citizens' ability to trade, it only makes a bad situation worse when you do the same to the citizens of your own nation.

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  3. I thought the Law of Comparative Advantage was no longer a thing?

    https://voxday.blogspot.com/2014/08/the-end-of-comparative-advantage.html?m=1

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    Replies
    1. Only in Vox Day's mind. His writings and speeches on the subject are riddled with logical fallacies and sloppy thinking.

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    2. Vox Day lecturing on economics is as bad as Stefan Molyneux's endless water-carrying for Trump. Libertarians are literally Hated and reviled by the Trump court intellectuals on youtube. This election has been devastating for the brand.

      I put a lot of blame Gary Johnson and Libertarian Party though. It has become a joke - literally - where people get on stage and strip down to do the "Truffle-Shuffle." The creation of that Party could never have had long-term benefits. Of course it would be co-opted.

      This is so frustrating.

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    3. Mises.org has an article by Rothbard in which he argues that Ricardo did not originate the theory of Comparative Advantage, and was likely uninterested in it.

      https://mises.org/library/ricardian-law-comparative-advantage

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  4. One of the best books simply explaining trade and protectionism:

    https://www.amazon.com/Choice-Fable-Free-Trade-Protection/dp/0131433547

    This should be on everyone's book shelf.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the heads up. We homeschool, so I will try to add this to the curriculum.

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  5. Maybe it is the economic ivy towerists that need to reevaluate the Actual not Theoretical outcomes We have lost all our mid level jobs and senior positions will follow! Trump gets it your law is theoretical and in practice has killed our workforce and economy The benefits do not return in reality to this country stock portfolio s are not enough to keep an economy going jobs jobs jobs

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    Replies
    1. Having the FedGov pick favorites in the marketplace makes for poor economic policy.

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    2. Re: Elenore Crane,

      ─ Maybe it is the economic ivy towerists that need to reevaluate the Actual not Theoretical outcomes ─

      Theory is based on actuality. You're merely asserting that there exists a world you see that others don't.

      ─ We have lost all our mid level jobs ─

      What's with this "we" business, Kemoabe? "We" haven't lost anything. Jobs belong to the employers, not the employees, so even if it were true that these so-called "mid level jobs" are not available (a completely unfounded assertion) that in itself is totally meaningless. No one has lost anything.

      ─ Trump gets it your law is theoretical ─

      El Presidente Trumpo is an ignoramus.

      ─ and in practice has killed our workforce and economy ─

      Those are both lies. No one and nothing has "killed our workforce." That expression is just hyperbolic nonsense. And the economy has grown at a much greater pace since the government lowered tariffs and impediments to trade.

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