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We import more goods than we export because we can buy imported products at much lower cost than the equivalent items manufactured in the U.S.

Ever question why this is true?

How about "labor arbitrage," the practice of finding the cheapest possible labor.

Even better if that labor is in a country which has no enviro controls, no safety regulations, no retirement mandates, AND which subsidizes exports and offers tax rebates for exporting--right??

More: even better if that country manipulates the value of its currency so that it PERMANENTLY remains below the value of the USD.

Tell you what: let's do free trade all the way. Tell your mother that she never actually PAID all the Social Security that she's getting--toss her off the program instead of burdening me and my children with her.

While you're at it, tell her that she's not going to get health insurance (either from the Gummint OR from her ex-employer) anymore. All medical treatments will be paid in cash, including pharmaceuticals. That way, others will SAVE all that money we currently WASTE on her--so we can buy other stuff!!!

You can take that 'free trade' stuff as far as you like, as long as it's YOUR mom that gets the results.

Tell you what: let's do free trade all the way. Tell your mother that she never actually PAID all the Social Security that she's getting--toss her off the program instead of burdening me and my children with her.

While you're at it, tell her that she's not going to get health insurance (either from the Gummint OR from her ex-employer) anymore. All medical treatments will be paid in cash, including pharmaceuticals. That way, others will SAVE all that money we currently WASTE on her--so we can buy other stuff!!!

I would be glad to do that.

I (and my mother by the way) would kill the SS program in heartbeat and ditto the health insurance industry. Both are just socialist schemes for getting one person to pay someone else's bills. That is just plain wrong. Charity is voluntary and a good thing. When the government threatens you with jail-time to accomplish the same end that is not freedom and is not a good thing.

I'm still a free trader.

Even better if that labor is in a country which has no enviro controls, no safety regulations, no retirement mandates, AND which subsidizes exports and offers tax rebates for exporting--right??

Why is this a problem? The Chinese collect taxes from their people so they can sell you things cheaper. Sounds good to me.

For people who will gladly work for $0.20 an hour the alternative to that job is probably starvatation. When that is the situation then I think safety regulations and retirement benefits are always going to take a back seat. What you have in China is what you had in this country a couple of hundred years ago. Like us, the Chinese will grow out of it. It takes time.