Free Trade Myths
Paul Craig Roberts has long been one of my favorite economists. As with many people that I admire, it is hard to classify him as being on the Left or the Right. He is one of the few voices that have expressed doubts about the axiomatic position held by the Democrat and Republican parties that free trade is all sunshine and rainbows.
Roberts also debunks the myth that the United States was built of free trade. Nothing could be further from the truth. From the earliest colonial times, the government has protected various industries.
Yes, yes, yes; I have been saying this for years. I was skeptical of this free trade nonsense from the beginning, but I never understood why Clinton supported NAFTA and the other free trade initiatives as zealously as the Republicans.
ReplyDeleteFree trade simply enables labor demand to take advantage of cheap labor supply. What has happened is that very little is now produced in the US. We are a service-based economy now.
Protectionism is not a bad word. I would love to see the government heavily tax companies that employ foreign labor, and lightly tax companies that manufacture products in the USA again.
This economic downturn is our chance to refocus on diversifying our economy and reestablishing our self-reliance. If the free trade lobby wins, America is toast.
Good points.
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