I certainly stand corrected on that. His view does not, however, make free trade a Marxist policy. It pre-existed Marx, but he evidently found something [false] to endorse it. Allowing a free citizen of the United States to trade with whomever he wants in another country seems completely uncontroversial to me.
I call the excuse of "high wages" a shibboleth not because our wages aren't higher than, say, China's (they're lower than Germany's, though, for example,) but because labor costs are the largest expense that a company can control. It cannot change the tax laws, the environmental regulations, the safety rules, or unionized labor laws.
Since you claim you are against crony capitalism and government interference, I find it very interesting that your are not ranting on against GATT, NAFTA, CAFTA, the WTO,
I could certainly rant against those because they are anything but "free" trade. They are typical, big-government negotiated trade deals that are anything but free. The politicians refer to them as "free trade" deals, but that's smoke.
Free trade would mean simply that the citizens of any two countries can buy whatever they wish from each other. No negotiations, loopholes, hold-backs, WTO, or International Courts needed.
Our economic problems are not a result of free trade. They come from heavy corporate and capital taxation, massive federal deficit-spending, over-regulation of business, and the Fed's half-century policy of inflation.
Absent those burdens, American business would be competitive.
Hmm ... You dismiss what Smith and Ricardo have written about patriotism, dismiss what Marx has written about free trade, dismiss free trade as currently defined, discussed, and promoted by many politicians, economists, and academics, admit off-shoring is all about CHEAP labor, and promote your version of free trade that does not exist, has never existed, and will never exist as long as there are national boundaries and human nature. It is suspiciously like Marx’s unfettered movement of capital. Chasing after cheap labor will inevitably result in the standard of living being pushed down to the lowest global level.
While our economic problems are partially the result of heavy corporate and capital taxation, massive federal deficit-spending, over-regulation of business, and the Fed’s half-century policy of inflation, they are also the result of free trade as currently described and practiced. Note this includes flooding the country with illegals and guest workers.
Boy was Yuri correct!