A nicely articulated statement. ( and you obviously know going down this road can be dangerous, and the unintended consequence’s are numerous.)
I would just add for clarity:
Tariff’s are nothing but sales-taxes on purchases of specified imported goods.
China doesn’t pay the Tariffs, we do. And the money goes into the Federal Treasury to be squandered.
And just on a personal note, I’m happy to give the Chinese my fiat paper money, for actual hard goods.
Please note that tariffs must be paid at the port of entry prior to allowing the goods into the country.
You only pay the sales tax (tariff) if you buy the more expensive goods.
“And just on a personal note, I’m happy to give the Chinese my fiat paper money, for actual hard goods.”
I know we sound money advocates spend a lot of time referring to fiat money as being worthless, so I understand your sentiments.
Unfortunately, fiat money is far, far worse than worthless. True, it’s purchasing power continues to be worth less as the central bank has no incentive to limit its production, but it still has purchasing power - less than it had before - but purchasing power nonetheless.
Here’s the rub: Newly created fiat money has the same purchasing power as fiat money already in circulation, so while each $ is worth less, it’s only the holders of existing fiat $ who have experienced a decrease in worth - the top tier banks who just printed the new fiat $ out of thin air have experienced a huge increase in purchasing power. Most people don’t know this, but the top tier banks actually own the newly created money - they can lend it, spend it, buy stocks or bonds with it, replenish their reserves - it’s their money and it was created out of nothing.
What just happened? Wealth did not get created - it got redistributed.
For decades, the Chinese have been taking our fiat money, and using it to buy up real estate and other capital assets in the US. They own significant shares of the US banks that we borrow money from.
None of this tragic transfer of wealth would have been possible if we’d had any kind of sound money policy in the US.
The Federal Reserve constitutes by far the biggest swindle in history and there’s hardly anyone who understands what’s being done to them.
The supposedly smart financially savvy MBAs from Wharton or Harvard - they have been so completely brainwashed that they talk gibberish when it comes to money and banking. They try to unravel all the debits and credits and throw out terms like “velocity of money” and “fractional reserves” - but their brains get tired and they wind up justifying it - convinced that in the end it must come out fair and square - but it doesnt! Not even close!
And that’s our smart business savvy people!
How is the average joe supposed to defend his property against these Robber Barons and the federal government (bought and paid for by them) that enables them? The federal government is nothing but a front for organized crime.