Before 1980 we had trade surpluses and we were basically self sufficient in manufacturing. We didn't seem impoverished then. A 20% tariff on imported manufactured goods wouldn't impoverish anyone. Demagogue much?
You are such a target-rich environment of economic illiteracy, I hardly know where to start.
How about here: “Before 1980 we had trade surpluses.”
Well, no, that’s false, you don’t know what you’re talking about. We ran trade deficits in ‘71, ‘72, 74, ‘76 and every year thereafter.
See: www.census.gov/foreign-trade/statistics/historical/gands.pdf
But, so what? Who cares? For every trade deficit, there was an investment surplus. Remember that accounting identity thing? Well, probably not, you’re a bit of an idiot.
And here: “A 20% tariff on imported manufactured goods wouldn’t impoverish anyone.”
The issue isn’t whether anyone will be impoverished.
Some number of people would be directly benefited. Those benefits would be more than offset by the much larger loss by the society in general due to higher costs and lost opportunities.
The benefits are easy to identify and count. X people made Y money, which is more than the Z money they used to make (pre-tariff.)
The costs are diffuse. Everyone suffers higher costs, generally. Some people aren’t employed who would have been or wind up working for less than they would have otherwise. Some companies never get started at all.
This is the classic screen you protectionists hide behind. A few people directly benefit. The rest of us get screwed.
Marx? He was an idiot. Don’t waste your time. That’s on a par with your previous lame “ass munch” attempt at an insult. Poor form, dude.
“There is a direct correlation between the income tax, progressivism and elimination of tariffs.”
Well, that’s nice, but correlation doesn’t equal causation. If you don’t understand even that much, I’m wasting my time. Income taxes started out as tiny percentages on very high incomes only. They replaced clumsy tariffs as revenue raisers. Yeah, the a-hole liberals got ahold of it and went crazy. 92% (which nobody paid) got rolled back to about 40%, which very few pay. It’s still too high because the government is too big. Give it a rest, we ain’t going back to tariffs.
Bernie Madoff? OK, it’s clear that you don’t understand even the rudiments of accounting, either.
You’re both an economic and accounting illiterate and ignoramus.
I wish you good luck because you’re gonna need it. A lot of it.