The Great Trade debate

[sparky]

The Great Trade Debate: Ian Fletcher - Free Trade Fails in Both Theory and Practice
Free trade is gradually bleeding America’s economy to death, and the much-promoted myth that economics vindicates it does not survive serious scrutiny.

To debate this issue without bogging down in semantics, we need to make a few things clear at the outset. For a start, the phrase “free trade” has two meanings, which are often confused:

1) The purely theoretical concept of perfectly free trade as analyzed in economics text-books.

2) The current free trade policy of the U.S. This is about 99%, not 100%, free on America’s part, and much less so on the part of our major trading partners.


International Economic Law and Policy Blog: The Great Trade Debate: Ian Fletcher - Free Trade Fails in Both Theory and Practice

one would think the time has come for some consideration here, yet they went for cafta , years after nafta was lamented for it's failure(s) here.....

 

[editec]

The Great Trade Debate: Ian Fletcher - Free Trade Fails in Both Theory and Practice
Free trade is gradually bleeding America’s economy to death, and the much-promoted myth that economics vindicates it does not survive serious scrutiny.

To debate this issue without bogging down in semantics, we need to make a few things clear at the outset. For a start, the phrase “free trade” has two meanings, which are often confused:

1) The purely theoretical concept of perfectly free trade as analyzed in economics text-books.

2) The current free trade policy of the U.S. This is about 99%, not 100%, free on America’s part, and much less so on the part of our major trading partners.


International Economic Law and Policy Blog: The Great Trade Debate: Ian Fletcher - Free Trade Fails in Both Theory and Practice

one would think the time has come for some consideration here, yet they went for cafta , years after nafta was lamented for it's failure(s) here.....

Free trade has so obviously been disasterous economically for this nation, I marvel at anyone who cannot see it.

FREE trade a misnomer to begin with.

It's not free, not by a long shot.

Not to us the people, at least.

We pay for it with unemployment, under employment, ddrcreased investments in this nation, decreased tax revenues, and NOW, we're paying for it with a massive and deadly depression.

Hope we all enjoyed those cheaper goods we bought from the third world while the going was good, because now it's time for the USA to collectively pay the price we've been hiding from ourselves by borrowing money like there was no tomorrow.

Well guess what?

TODAY is the TOMORROW that some of our leaders (an debtors) apparently thought they wouldn't live to see.

 

[sparky]

Free trade is just a subsidy for corporatism, which has no allegiance to the USA

that said, some waves are being made......

U.S. Lawmakers Begin Effort to Repeal NAFTA | Economy In Crisis

"At a time when 10 to 12 percent of the American people are unemployed, I think Congress has an obligation to put people back to work," Taylor said, pointing out that his state has lost 39 percent of its manufacturing jobs since NAFTA was implemented.


with an interesting commentary>>>>

Though it is a step in the right direction, this is still like closing the barn door after the cows have escaped. Our manufacturing facilities (which ought to have been considered a national resource) have left the country and relocated to China, Indonesia, and India. The men and women with expertise in this field are all retired or dead. The vo-tech schools stopped teaching machine shop and related skills long ago. The rich oligarchy that pulls Obama's and congress's strings would not allow returning manufacturing to the US anyway, since they would loose profits on the foreign manufacuring companies that they hold stock in. Except for our nuclear arsenal, we are now officially a 3rd world (and 3rd rate) economy, and merely the provider of mercenary forces for the state of Israel and a "police force" for the rest of the world. As a matter of fact, "service" in one of the armed forces is about the only gainful employment left to our young people, at the risk of life and limb, of course.

 

[sparky]

Congressional Dems Displeased With Trade Policy | Economy In Crisis

A long-time opponent of free trade policies that have cost his state thousands upon thousands of manufacturing jobs, Sen. Sherrod Brown said the administration should support the TRADE Act, which would completely overhaul the way America conducts trade.

 

[Toro]

Free trade is an empirically well documented boon to the economy. NAFTA has benefited the US and has increased wages.

http://home.uchicago.edu/~lcaliend/Estimates_of_Trade_and_Welfare_Effects_of_NAFTA.pdf

 

[Supposn]

Sparky, I’m a proponent of a proposal based upon Warren Buffett’s concept that was introduced to the Senate in 2006.

It would not increase government’s net expenses or debt, but would always significantly reduce our trade deficit and increase our GDP more than otherwise.

Trade deicit’s detriment to GDP ALWAYS far exceed the amount of the deficit itself and it bolsters the median wage.

Refer to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Import_Certificates
www.USA-Trade-Deficit.Blogspot,com

Respectfully, Supposn