re: Free Trade Makes Us All Richer (Even if Other Countries Don't "Play Fair"

Nonetheless a very rich country. Do you see now that manufacturing is not as important as is free trade?

There is absolutely no question Hong Kong is rich because of free trade. The British left them alone for 100 years and it was the freest economy in the world and that is what it became.

They obviously did not try to protect the shirt makers with tariffs.

quote:

---

if we have a problem with unfair trade practices in other countries

---

There are practices we believe to be unfair and we have practices the believe to be unfair.

I promise you that if we simply unilaterally did away with all our tariffs and subsidies our economy would grow much more that it is today. Oh farmers and steel makers would scream but the overall wealth of the USA would go up just like it did in Hong Kong. I am sure there were textile manufacturers in Hong Kong in the fifties that wanted protection and did not get it.

I don’t disagree with parts of your argument, but would like to know where you would assign the burden of defense spending which in many places guarantees the freedom of movement required to facilitate trade (we could argue where)?

Historical example: do nations who benefit from freedom of navigation (EU, Japan, China) owe the US for keeping the Persian gulf/strait of malacca/Suez free from rogue state interference? We had the Japanese and Euros contribute significantly to pay for Gulf War 1, is there any requirement for nations to compensate the US for its role in ensuring the capability for trade? If we agree that all benefit from trade, should we own the vast majority of the costs?

I don’t enjoy the idea of tariff wars, but I also don’t know how we can truly have “free trade” without American sea power facilitating free navigation. Since there is a bill for for the provision of trade guaranteeing security, who pays it, and in what way? Does making others help pay for it then violate the principle of free trade?

quote:

---

I promise you that if we simply unilaterally did away with all our tariffs and subsidies our economy would grow much more that it is today..

---

Just like the alcoholic exec who's always buying everyone a round at the bar. He does it because his credit card limits allow it. He feels so much richer for it. Everyone calls him their friend, much more so than before he bought their drinks. He thinks it's great doing so well.

5yrs later he's a homeless vagabond, and dying of cirrhosis on the street. Folks he bought countless rounds for before he lost everything, walk by and shake their heads in disgust. They don't give him a drink. They don't give him spare change. They don't even give him the time of day.

quote:

---

We will certainly have less employment if tariffs go on as Trump wants. Only the truly naive believe tariffs create jobs---they destroy jobs

---

Anyone who argues against this is a moron