Wednesday, December 21, 2016

Trump's Economic Team Just Got Exponentially Worse

Peter Navarro will serve as Assistant to the President and Director of Trade and Industrial Policy, reports  Ylan Q. Mui of The Washington Post.

Navarro is a horrific protectionist, as bad as you can get.

Don Boudreaux has previously written:
I’ve not yet carefully studied Trump’s newly announced roster of economic advisors, but I was disappointed, although not surprised, that one of Trump’s new economic advisors is the mercantilist economist Peter Navarro...

Navarro is often described as a “trade expert.”  This description is about as accurate as is the description of a faith-healer as a “medical expert” – neither “expert” displays any evidence of understanding the science of the topic on which he is allegedly an expert.
Note well: Navarro considers war with China "very likely."

And why exactly do we need an "industrial policy"?

This is an indication of serious nutjob central planning in the Trump Administration.

More from Mui and Navarro's distorted view on trade:



 -RW

UPDATE

Navarro will lead the protectionist soundingWhite House National Trade Council.

Trump transition team full statement is here.


From the out of touch with economic reality statement:
 Navarro is a visionary economist and will develop trade policies that shrink our trade deficit, expand our growth, and help stop the exodus of jobs from our shores. 

UPDATE 2

 Navarro is the author of books such as "Death by China" and "Crouching Tiger: What China’s Militarism Means for the World."

From the blurbs:
In the face of these threatening developments, the book stresses the importance of maintaining US military strength and preparedness and strengthening alliances, while warning against a complacent optimism that relies on economic engagement, negotiations, and nuclear deterrence to ensure peace. 
---
 The world's most populous nation and soon-to-be largest economy is rapidly turning into the planet's most efficient assassin. Unscrupulous Chinese entrepreneurs are flooding world markets with lethal products. China's perverse form of capitalism combines illegal mercantilist and protectionist weapons to pick off American industries, job by job. China's emboldened military is racing towards head-on confrontation with the U.S.

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