Good Article on Free Trade

[Toro]

All economists know that when American jobs are outsourced, Americans as a group are net winners. What we lose through lower wages is more than offset by what we gain through lower prices. In other words, the winners can more than afford to compensate the losers. Does that mean they ought to? Does it create a moral mandate for the taxpayer-subsidized retraining programs proposed by Mr. McCain and Mr. Romney?

Um, no. Even if you’ve just lost your job, there’s something fundamentally churlish about blaming the very phenomenon that’s elevated you above the subsistence level since the day you were born. If the world owes you compensation for enduring the downside of trade, what do you owe the world for enjoying the upside?

I doubt there’s a human being on earth who hasn’t benefited from the opportunity to trade freely with his neighbors. Imagine what your life would be like if you had to grow your own food, make your own clothes and rely on your grandmother’s home remedies for health care. Access to a trained physician might reduce the demand for grandma’s home remedies, but — especially at her age — she’s still got plenty of reason to be thankful for having a doctor.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/opinion/16landsburg.html?_r=2&ref=opinion&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

 

[RetiredGySgt]

National Security is endangered by the whole sale loss of our ability to produce things in our Country.

 

[Toro]

National Security is endangered by the whole sale loss of our ability to produce things in our Country.

That's a gross exaggeration.

Last time I checked, the amount of things produced in this country has been rising.

 

[RetiredGySgt]

How many shipyards do we have? How many production facilities for heavy and light armor? How many production facilities do we have for ammunition? How much steel do we make IN this country?

In a long war we are at the mercy of international trade to maintain our military. We had to order small arms ammo because we can not make enough for our own needs.

 

[Toro]

How many shipyards do we have? How many production facilities for heavy and light armor? How many production facilities do we have for ammunition? How much steel do we make IN this country?

In a long war we are at the mercy of international trade to maintain our military. We had to order small arms ammo because we can not make enough for our own needs.

Mercantilism is an utter failure and a disgraced ideology in economics. It leads to lower standards of living because of higher prices everyone has to pay to support a special protected interest, and leads to less jobs and less income. It is government intervention in the economy that the Right supposedly is so vehemently against.

EDIT - I understand the need for the military to maintain secure sources of supply, but that doesn't mean the government should protect wide swaths of industry, making everyone poorer.

 

[BaronVonBigmeat]

National Security is endangered by the whole sale loss of our ability to produce things in our Country.

If you mean that we can't produce every single item that we would ever need for our military, then yes. But it cuts both ways, too. And besides, intertwined economies give less incentive for war in the first place. What's the chance of China attacking us, or Russia attacking western europe? Pretty low, since we are their primary customers. Like Frederic Bastiat said, "if goods don't cross borders, armies will".