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Free Trade and the Steel Industry
YouTube ^ | 1978 | Milton Friedman

Posted on 10/09/2011 1:37:52 PM PDT by Toddsterpatriot

Milton Friedman shows the stupidity of tariffs.


TOPICS: Business/Economy
KEYWORDS: economy; global; tariffs; world
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To: FromTheSidelines

ahh so the answer to the EPA is to send all the work, investment, and revenue offshore.

and then argue that it will make America stronger.

yeah thats da ticket


41 posted on 10/09/2011 2:47:23 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: driftdiver

You don’t have to move your factory to China or South Korea or Malaysia or Japan in order to sell in those markets. Companies choose to do it because it makes economic sense.

How about we give companies a reason to move back home, and to encourage other foreign companies to invest here? Eliminate the corporate tax rate. Roll back all business and environmental regulations to 1995. You’ll have a mad crash rush of money, people, and businesses to the US.

Or we can take the protectionist approach and raise taxes on US consumers in an effort to punish foreign nations...


42 posted on 10/09/2011 2:48:47 PM PDT by FromTheSidelines ("everything that deceives, also enchants" - Plato)
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To: driftdiver

Let me see if I can make this easy for you...

You make cars. They’re in high demand overseas. You’re selling well in a market that is growing overseas.

You can go ahead and make the cars here, and bear a $7000 union “tax” for each car, and another $3000 EPA “tax” for each car you make here. And then have a 20% tariff on the import of your car overseas. And pay 35% profits on any money you make on that car.

Or you can move overseas, eliminate the union tax, the EPA tax, the tariff, and cut your corporate income tax down to 17% or lower.

So which would you do? You want to keep your taxes nice and high, and your profits at the whim of the unions and the Federal Government? Is that the way forward?

Do you buy anything made overseas? How about your cell phone, laptop or TV? What car brand do you drive?


43 posted on 10/09/2011 2:52:22 PM PDT by FromTheSidelines ("everything that deceives, also enchants" - Plato)
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To: Toddsterpatriot
Every time I drive out of town I pass huge fields of soybeans. In 2009 (latest year for which I could get data) the US exported 1.56 billion bushels of soybeans, worth $15 billion (with a "b"). Exports amounted to 55% of total soybean crop. The rest was used domestically, mostly as animal feed.

China took 686 million bushels, or 23% of our total soybean production. Mexico was our second biggest buyer, taking 113 million bushels. Japan took 88 million bushels.

What's the point, here? Ultimately our exports must be paid for in dollars. The only way foreign purchasers of our exports can acquire dollars is to sell to us. If you limit imports with tariffs or other trade barriers, you're killing jobs in the export industries in which we're competitive worldwide.

You might want to argue that soybeans are not a very impressive export. Let's look at the aircraft industry. Boeing finally got their 787 Dreamliner out of trouble. The first airplane delivered went to All Nippon Airways. ANA paid for that airplane with dollars earned by Japanese firms exporting to the US. Stop those imports, and you kill jobs in the aircraft industry.

Finally, in defense of agriculture, in 2010 total US exports of agricultural products were $115.8 billion. There are three classical indicators of "high tech" industry: R&D as percent of sales; capital investment per worker; and value added per worker. US agriculture has high values on all three indicators. Next time you want to see a high tech industry, go look at your nearest soybean field, cotton field, or wheat field. Don't go destroying our high tech, world-wide competitive industries by "protecting" industries that can't compete in the world market.

44 posted on 10/09/2011 2:53:26 PM PDT by JoeFromSidney (New book: RESISTANCE TO TYRANNY. A primer on armed revolt. Available form Amazon.)
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To: dennisw
It was easy to be for free trade back then but times change

Yes. Because limiting freedom solves so many problems.

45 posted on 10/09/2011 2:55:16 PM PDT by BfloGuy (Even the opponents of Socialism are dominated by socialist ideas.)
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To: Toddsterpatriot; fudimo

We were hardly running trade deficits back then meaning pre-Ronald Reagan. Go check out the stats. Thus we could afford the stupidity of allowing Japan to make inroads in our automobile market. We did this because Japan was a loyal ally. The ChiComs are adversaries yet we allow their imports to invade America. That is plain traitorous and dumb

Looks like we were importing 2 million Jap cars back then pre-Ronald Reagan. My mistake


46 posted on 10/09/2011 2:57:26 PM PDT by dennisw (nzt - works better if you're already smart)
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To: driftdiver

Higher than ever? I thought you said we don’t have an industry anymore?


47 posted on 10/09/2011 3:01:15 PM PDT by Toddsterpatriot (Math is hard. Harder if you're stupid.)
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To: Toddsterpatriot
Can't have too much freedom now, people might begin acting in their own self interest....you know, that greed thing Dennis supports.

I could have sworn I heard Friedman say that greed was good in another take-down of some big government liberal. I wonder who posted that clip...?

48 posted on 10/09/2011 3:01:48 PM PDT by Mase (Save me from the people who would save me from myself!)
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To: BfloGuy; Toddsterpatriot

On your tombstone it will read -—

“He was a free trader until the end even though it impoverished his sons and daughters and ruined his community and shut down half the factories. He was a man of principles. Idiotic principles and the Chinese proved this”


49 posted on 10/09/2011 3:02:20 PM PDT by dennisw (nzt - works better if you're already smart)
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To: FromTheSidelines

I’ll make it even easier for you. Is America stronger today, compared to other countries, or is it weaker?

Pretty simple isn’t it.


50 posted on 10/09/2011 3:03:37 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: slowhandluke
Suppose the other party undercuts our prices, ends up owning the entire industry, and finances our spending not by buying the stuff we make but by loaning us back what we spent. Then, when we are used to buying stuff without making anything to sell in return, they pull the rug out. We would be hosed.

Suppose we have a government that inflates the dollar supply for over half a century. Prices and wages are continually higher than they would have been, making our goods and labor too expensive to compete.

You're speculating in semi-Marxist baloney. What I'm saying has actually happened. And, yes, we're hosed. You've reached the correct conclusion, you're just mistaken about how to fix it.

You protectionists, who will defend your other freedoms to the death, are all too willing to suddenly let government regulate our economic lives -- all for the common good, of course.

Well, there's a long history of people calling for "small" infringements on freedom -- for the common good. Funny that the common good is never advanced by them.

51 posted on 10/09/2011 3:04:05 PM PDT by BfloGuy (Even the opponents of Socialism are dominated by socialist ideas.)
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To: Toddsterpatriot

I’m not surprised to find reading comprehension problems among people who support ‘free trade’.


52 posted on 10/09/2011 3:07:13 PM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: dennisw

That’s OK mistakes happen.

I agree with you on the China problem though. As a Government they are dishonest and it is very difficult to play with a dishonest player. Sometimes it’s best to leave the table if you can.

There is a pretty good article from 2004 in Business Week i just skimmed over it was interesting you may want to look at it. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_49/b3911401.htm


53 posted on 10/09/2011 3:16:52 PM PDT by fudimo
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To: Toddsterpatriot
How can you fight an all out war with:

Without:

to make these:

and these:


54 posted on 10/09/2011 3:22:02 PM PDT by central_va ( I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: FromTheSidelines
You can go ahead and make the cars here, and bear a $7000 union “tax” for each car, and another $3000 EPA “tax” for each car you make here. And then have a 20% tariff on the import of your car overseas. And pay 35% profits on any money you make on that car.

That is such BS. Labor accounts for only 10% of the MSRP on autos. Even less for non union built cars. Do some research and quit spreading lies.

55 posted on 10/09/2011 3:27:43 PM PDT by central_va ( I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: dennisw

Future generations are going to curse the Free Traitors of today. The greediest generation gave away the store and ate the seed corn.


56 posted on 10/09/2011 3:30:07 PM PDT by central_va ( I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: BfloGuy
You protectionists, who will defend your other freedoms to the death, are all too willing to suddenly let government regulate our economic lives -- all for the common good, of course.

I believe in free trade amongst the 50 states. I believe in protectionism when countries use unfair trade practices or are COMMUNIST. Perhaps you forgot that part.

57 posted on 10/09/2011 3:33:17 PM PDT by central_va ( I won't be reconstructed and I do not give a damn.)
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To: driftdiver

Oh, it’s very simple! However, the cause isn’t because the other nations got stronger, it’s because we got weaker. We decided to become a “give me” society back in the late 60s and it’s been downhill ever since.

How do you propose we’ll tax ourselves into prosperity? That’s what a call for increased tariffs fundamentally are - increasing the taxes paid by US consumers in an attempt to spur domestic prosperity.


58 posted on 10/09/2011 3:41:25 PM PDT by FromTheSidelines ("everything that deceives, also enchants" - Plato)
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To: central_va
Maybe you should educate yourself...

Regarding union health care, "Gold-plated UAW health benefits for retirees and active workers added $1,200 to the cost of each vehicle that GM produced in 2007."

Add in the 10% price that the UAW claims for labor alone ($3,000 on a $30,000 vehicle), and we're at $4,200 right there. And we haven't added in the costs of retirement plans, jobs banks, or GM bailouts (we spent $15 billion on GM, which sells 2.5 million cars a year - that's $1,000 per year for 6 years).

Yea, it's probably close to $7,000 for the labor, benefits, and UAW bailout that we spent for each car rolling out of the Big Three...

Of course, it's interesting to note that when you Google "union labor costs in car price" one of the first links is from DU and spouts the same line you do. Do you spend much time collecting your facts over at DU?

59 posted on 10/09/2011 3:47:01 PM PDT by FromTheSidelines ("everything that deceives, also enchants" - Plato)
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To: FromTheSidelines

“Free trade” is the one very significant issue, our side seems to have bought into the wrong side of, lock stock and barrel.

But it’s not Republican individuals who are keeping us on the ever more unstable “free trade” train hurdling down the mountain.

It is globalist RINOS.

Just remember, the issue was enough to propel Donald Trump to the top of the GOP polls in just two days.


60 posted on 10/09/2011 3:50:23 PM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network (Santorum: Plan B to a certain Grizzly.)
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