Posted on 12/17/2010 3:10:05 PM PST by giant sable
The recent quick fade of the Deficit Commission was the latest reminder that America no longer seems to have the stomach for big challenges. There was a time – was it just a generation ago? – when Americans were legendary for doing vast, seemingly superhuman, projects: the Interstate Highway System, the Apollo Missions, Hoover Dam, the Manhattan Project, the Normandy invasion, the Empire State Building, Social Security.
What happened?
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.forbes.com ...
No developed country can compete on a level playing field with workers who are paid 50 cents an hour which is why you do not allow totally unregulated trade with them. If you do, you’ll find that you have no viable economy left and you’ll become indentured to those countries.
Great essay.
Thanks for posting.
Commerce and trade should be free of government intervention and that is true today as it was in the days of Adam Smith.
As for Apple, a competitor is able to produce an iPad like device and produce it in the USA with all American workers.
And you would be free to buy that product or go with the Apple product.
Or we can have the government dictate to Apple where there products must be manufactured.
On paper, but it doesn’t work like that in real life. The Japanese were dumping stuff in the US during the ‘80s and we allowed them to get away with it. But trying to sell our stuff in Japan was nearly impossible.
Result: Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, et al. are very much alive and well. RCA, Zenith, and Sylvania are long gone.
“On paper, but it doesn’t work like that in real life. The Japanese were dumping stuff in the US during the ‘80s and we allowed them to get away with it. But trying to sell our stuff in Japan was nearly impossible.”
And that’s why trade agreements must be reciprocal.
“Result: Sony, Panasonic, Toshiba, et al. are very much alive and well. RCA, Zenith, and Sylvania are long gone.”
Perhaps Sony made a better TV than Zenith.
“And that’s why trade agreements must be reciprocal.”
Tell that to Japan. Every country protects their industries except us idiots.
“Perhaps Sony made a better TV than Zenith.”
I dunno; my father turned down a Trinitron once because he thought the RCAs had better picture quality.
But unlike Japan, China isn’t a worthwhile competitor at all. Their stuff is total junk.
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