America was founded as a protectionist nation

The Daily Caller ^ | 9/13/2010 | Ian Fletcher

[rmlew]

Contemporary American politics is conducted in the shadow of historical myths that inform our present-day choices. Unfortunately, these myths sometimes lead us terribly astray. Case in point is the popular idea that America’s economic tradition has been economic liberty, laissez faire, and wide-open cowboy capitalism. This notion sounds obvious, and it fits the image of this country held by both the Right, which celebrates this tradition, and the Left, which bemoans it. And it seems to imply, among other things, that free trade is the American Way. Don’t Tread On Me or my right to import.

It is, in fact, very easy to construct an impressive-sounding defense of free trade as a form of economic liberty on the basis of this myth. Unfortunately, this myth is just that: a myth, not real history. The reality is that all four of the presidents on Mount Rushmore were protectionists. (Even the pseudo-libertarian Jefferson came around after the War of 1812.) Historically, protectionism has been, in fact, the real American Way.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2010/09/13/america-was-founded-as-a-protectionist-nation/#ixzz0zQpQypXn

[little jeremiah]

Yes indeed. In fact, HI used to be self sufficient except for metal. They grew everything - cotton, had mills and wove fabric, made cotton mattresses, grew sheep wool, exported wheat and rice and fruit to CA, etc.

Globalization is extremely destructive.

[dennisw]

All mush fer brains libertarians who are addicted to “free trade”.....Who think we can run enormous trade deficits without being called to account. You are as bad as the liberal Democrat big spenders

[dennisw]

We could, but we'd take a huge hit to our wealth and power as a result.

Running 400-700 billion dollar trade deficits are not how a nation becomes wealthy unless you think charging (on your credit card) all kinds of things you can't pay for is intelligent

[allmendream]

That is a rational defense of sugar protection and government intervention in the markets being unambiguously a good thing every time?

I am not a libertarian, or a free trade absolutist. But I do agree with the school of thought that free trade between free nations is preferable to a highly regulated and taxed market.

But maybe increased government regulation and taxes (and power) are the solution to all our problems! LOL!!!

[BfloGuy]

I think right now the best idea we can aim for is a revenue-generating value-added import tariff of about 22% with the aim of making domestic production and imports revenue-neutral to the federal government.

I've read that 5 times and it makes no sense whatsoever (of course, none of the other protectionist arguments here do either). Don't you understand that tariffs will be paid by us? They are not paid by the exporters -- they are paid by the consumer.

Protectionism is emotion-driven -- much like liberalism come to think of it.

[cynwoody]

Running 400-700 billion dollar trade deficits are not how a nation becomes wealthy unless you think charging (on your credit card) all kinds of things you can't pay for is intelligent

Geez, I just checked, and I have a huge trade deficit with Whole Foods Market. Last year I bought over $5K worth of food from them, but, as far as I know, they haven't bought a dime's worth of stuff from me. Do you think I need credit counseling?

Oh, and then there's Kohls.com. They haven't bought anything from me either. But they did send me a piece of plastic that has a bar code and the words "Most Valued Customer" on it, all because I bought over $600 worth of stuff from them last year. Looks like I'm a trade deficit junky!

The truth is, trade deficits don't matter.

Because of international trade, I'm able to buy out of season cherries imported from Chile by Whole Foods. And I'm able to buy cheap clothes imported from China and India by Kohl's. Because of international trade, the money I get from people who do buy from me buys more stuff for me. And it's stuff, not dollars, that ultimately fills my stomach and keeps me warm.

Of course, those cherries might have displaced strawberries from California, but that's just how the cookie crumbles. Let those California farmers grow something I like better than cherries! After all, I'm the consumer, and the world revolves around me!

[MichaelNewton]

The United States was not founded as a protectionist country. First of all, you must understand that the primary source of government funds back in the late 1700s and early 1800s were taxes on imports. Thus, it would appear that the government was protectionist, but the real goal was revenue, not protectionism.

However, the US acted protectionist many times when it went to war, most notably against Britain in 1812 and France in 1798.

The United States relied on trade to survive and grow. Yes, tariffs were imposed (they reached 50% in 1828, then fell to 15% by 1857, before rising again to 47% in 1862) but they were largely for revenue generation, not protectionism. And yes, many especially in the north argued for high tariffs to protect American manufacturing. But the Southern Democratic-Republicans ran the country for most of its early years (Jefferson-Madison-Monroe for 24 years). Except when funds were needed for the War of 1812 and America tried to block British shipping during that war, they were predominantly free-trade.

[In contrast to the Tariff of Abominations that John Quincy Adams tried to pass in 1828 which was designed not to generate needed revenue, but had the purpose of “the protection of one branch of industry at the expense of others.”]

[katana]

I must admit to being torn on the question, so your point is very well taken. The unions and the tendency of American companies to let the accountants run everything have done more to drive businesses under or offshore than any other factors.

But where my opinion on free trade vs. protection has migrated is the question of maintaining a domestic industrial manufacturing, agricultural, and resource base for both national and economic security. We do still export quite a lot of goods in certain manufacturing sectors, including medical (the area I work in), but even here our comparative advantage is declining rapidly and production is moving offshore. Once that base is lost it won't necessarily be easy to get back.

[allmendream]

To me it is like war and peace.

I prefer peace to war. But that doesn't make me a pacifist, I am a former professional warrior in the USAF and believe that the best way to have peace is to prepare for war.

I prefer free trade to a highly regulated, subsidized, and taxed market. But when they roll out the below costs goods, subsidized by their government, in an effort to bankrupt competition, there should be a price to pay for that.

But I prefer free trade to a highly regulated, subsidized, and taxed market; just as I prefer peace to war.

[eyeonutoday]

20 to 30 million unemployed souls probably agree with you. FR-traders are just stupid!

[fallujah-nuker]

Geez, I just checked, and I have a huge trade deficit with Whole Foods Market. Last year I bought over $5K worth of food from them, but, as far as I know, they haven't bought a dime's worth of stuff from me. Do you think I need credit counseling?

Oh, and then there's Kohls.com. They haven't bought anything from me either. But they did send me a piece of plastic that has a bar code and the words "Most Valued Customer" on it, all because I bought over $600 worth of stuff from them last year. Looks like I'm a trade deficit junky!

Same here, however I also have a trade surplus I run with my employer that covers all of my trade deficits. I know some people who didn't worry about that little detail, but all they had to do was keep tapping the equity in their house. Of course, now the don't own their house anymore, they've filed for bankruptcy and divorce.

[rmlew]

That whole scenario falls apart in today's world, however. Because the U.S. pretty much has the highest standard of living among the major nations of the world, there's really nothing we can do to develop and maintain a competitive export-based economy. What exactly does the U.S. produce that can be sold competitively overseas these days?
Germany and Japan have positive trade balances despite having more expensive pay scales for labor than the US.

[SunkenCiv]

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